English Poetry I: From Chaucer to Gray.
The Harvard Classics. 1909–14. |
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| 224. The Pulley |
| | | George Herbert (1593–1633) |
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| WHEN God at first made Man, | |
| Having a glass of blessings standing by— | |
| Let us (said He) pour on him all we can; | |
| Let the world’s riches, which dispersèd lie, | |
| Contract into a span. | 5 |
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| So strength first made a way, | |
| Then beauty flow’d, then wisdom, honour, pleasure; | |
| When almost all was out, God made a stay, | |
| Perceiving that, alone of all His treasure, | |
| Rest in the bottom lay. | 10 |
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| For if I should (said He) | |
| Bestow this jewel also on My creature, | |
| He would adore My gifts instead of Me, | |
| And rest in Nature, not the God of Nature: | |
| So both should losers be. | 15 |
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| Yet let him keep the rest, | |
| But keep them with repining restlessness; | |
| Let him be rich and weary, that at least, | |
| If goodness lead him not, yet weariness | |
| May toss him to My breast. | 20 |
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