Thomas Humphry Ward, ed. The English Poets. 1880–1918.rnVol. II. The Seventeenth Century: Ben Jonson to Dryden

John Ford (1586–c. 1640)

Calantha’s Dirge (from The Broken Heart)

GLORIES, pleasures, pomps, delights and ease,

Can but please

Outward senses, when the mind

Is untroubled, or by peace refined.

Crowns may flourish and decay,

Beauties shine, but fade away.

Youth may revel, yet it must

Lie down in a bed of dust.

Earthly honours flow and waste,

Time alone doth change and last.

Sorrows mingled with contents prepare

Rest for care;

Love only reigns in death; though art

Can find no comfort for a Broken Heart.