| Herbert J.C. Grierson, ed. (1886–1960). Metaphysical Lyrics & Poems of the 17th C. 1921. |
| |
| Henry Vaughan |
| |
107. ROM. CAP. 8. VER. 19.
Etenim res Creatæ exerto Capite observantes expectant revelationem Filiorum Dei |
| |
| AND do they so? have they a Sense | |
| Of ought but Influence? | |
| Can they their heads lift, and expect, | |
| And grone too? why th'Elect | |
| Can do no more: my volumes sed | 5 |
| They were all dull, and dead, | |
| They judg'd them senslesse, and their state | |
| Wholly Inanimate. | |
| Go, go; Seal up thy looks, | |
| And burn thy books. | 10 |
| |
| I would I were a stone, or tree, | |
| Or flowre by pedigree, | |
| Or some poor high-way herb, or Spring | |
| To flow, or bird to sing! | |
| Then should I (tyed to one sure state,) | 15 |
| All day expect my date; | |
| But I am sadly loose, and stray | |
| A giddy blast each way; | |
| O let me not thus range! | |
| Thou canst not change. | 20 |
| |
| Sometimes I sit with thee, and tarry | |
| An hour, or so, then vary. | |
| Thy other Creatures in this Scene | |
| Thee only aym, and mean; | |
| Some rise to seek thee, and with heads | 25 |
| Erect peep from their beds; | |
| Others, whose birth is in the tomb, | |
| And cannot quit the womb, | |
| Sigh there, and grone for thee, | |
| Their liberty. | 30 |
| |
| O let not me do lesse! shall they | |
| Watch, while I sleep, or play? | |
| Shall I thy mercies still abuse | |
| With fancies, friends, or newes? | |
| O brook it not! thy bloud is mine, | 35 |
| And my soul should be thine; | |
| O brook it not! why wilt thou stop | |
| After whole showres one drop? | |
| Sure, thou wilt joy to see | |
| Thy sheep with thee. | 40 |
| |
|
|
