Ben Jonson. 1573-1637
188. The Triumph
1 min to read
210 words

SEE the Chariot at hand here of Love,   Wherein my Lady rideth! Each that draws is a swan or a dove,   And well the car Love guideth. As she goes, all hearts do duty           Unto her beauty; And enamour'd do wish, so they might           But enjoy such a sight, That they still were to run by her side, Through swords, through seas, whither she would ride.

Do but look on her eyes, they do light   All that Love's world compriseth! Do but look on her hair, it is bright   As Love's star when it riseth! Do but mark, her forehead's smoother           Than words that soothe her; And from her arch'd brows such a grace           Sheds itself through the face, As alone there triumphs to the life All the gain, all the good, of the elements' strife.

Have you seen but a bright lily grow   Before rude hands have touch'd it? Have you mark'd but the fall of the snow   Before the soil hath smutch'd it? Have you felt the wool of beaver,           Or swan's down ever? Or have smelt o' the bud o' the brier,           Or the nard in the fire? Or have tasted the bag of the bee? O so white, O so soft, O so sweet is she!

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Ben Jonson. 1573-1637
189. An Elegy
1 min to read
238 words
Return to The Oxford Book of English Verse, 1250–1900






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