| John Donne (1572–1631). The Poems of John Donne. 1896. | | | | Appendix A. Doubtful Poems | | A Paradox |
| | | WHOSO terms Love a fire, may like a poet | |
| Feign what he will, for certain cannot show it; | |
| For fire ne’er burns but when the fuel’s near, | |
| But Love doth at most distance most appear; | |
| Yet out of fire water did never go; | 5 |
| But tears from Love abundantly do flow; | |
| Fire still mounts upward, but Love oft descendeth; | |
| Fire leaves the midst, Love to the centre tendeth; | |
| Fire drys and hardens, Love doth mollify; | |
| Fire doth consume, but Love doth fructify. | 10 |
| The powerful Queen of Love (fair Venus) came, | |
| Descended from the sea, not from the flame; | |
| Whence passions ebb and flow, and from the brain | |
| Run to the heart, like streams, and back again. | |
| Yea Love oft fills men’s breasts with melting snow, | 15 |
| Drowning their love-sick minds in floods of woe. | |
| What, is Love water, then? it may be so; | |
| But he saith truest that saith he doth not know. | | | | |
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