And where these are temp'rate known,
The foil's all barren fand, or rocky stone.
COWLEY.

A lover, burnt up by his affection, is compared to Egypt:

The fate of Egypt I sustain,

And never feel the dew of rain,
From clouds which in the head appear;
But all my too much moisture owe,
To overflowings of the heart below.

COWLEY.

The lover fuppofes his lady acquainted with the ancient laws of augury and rites of facrifice:

And yet this death of mine, I fear,
Will ominous to her appear:

When found in every other part,
Her facrifice is found without an heart.
For the last tempeft of my death
Shall figh out that too, with my breath.

That the chaos was harmonised has been recited of old; but whence the different founds arofe, remained for a modern to difcover:

Th' ungovern'd parts no correfpondence knew,

An artless war from thwarting motions grew;

Till they to number and fixt rules were brought.

Water

Water and air he for the tenor chofe,
Earth made the Bafe, the Treble flame
arose.
COWLEY,

The tears of lovers are always of great poetical account; but Donne has extended them into worlds. If the lines are not easily underftood, they may be read again.

On a round ball

A workman, that hath copies by, can lay
An Europe, Afric, and an Afia,

And quickly make that, which was nothing, all.

So doth each tear,

Which thee doth wear,

A globe, yea world, by that impreffion grow, Till thy tears mixt with mine do overflow This world, by waters fent from thee my heaven diffolved fo.

On reading the following lines the reader may perhaps cry out-Confufion worfe confounded.

Here lies a fhe fun, and a he moon here,

She gives the beft light to his fphere,
Or each is both, and all, and fo

They unto one another nothing owe.

DONNE.

Who but Donne would have thought that a good man is a telescope?

Tho' God be our true glass, thro' which we fee

All, fince the being of all things is he,

Yet

Yet are the trunks, which do to us derive
Things, in proportion fit, by perspective
Deeds of good men; for by their living
here,

Virtues, indeed remote, feem to be near.

Who would imagine it poffible that in a very few lines fo many remote ideas could be brought together:

Since 'tis my doom, Love's undershrieve,
Why this reprieve?

Why doth my She Advowson fly
Incumbency?

To fell thyself doft thou intend
By candle's end,

And hold the contrast thus in doubt,
Life's taper out?

Think but how foon the market fails,
Your fex lives faster than the males

As if to measure age's fpan,

;

The fober Julian were th' account of man, Whilft you live by the fleet Gregorian.

CLEVELAND.

F enormous and difgufting hyperboles,
these may be examples :

By every wind, that comes this way,
Send me at least a figh or two,

Such and fo many I'll repay

As fhall themselves make winds to get to you.

COWLEY.

In tears I'll waste these eyes
By love fo vainly fed;
So luft of old the Deluge punished.

COWLEY.

All arm'd in brass, the richest dress of war,
(A difmal glorious fight) he fhone afar.
The fun himself started with fudden fright,
To fee his beams return so dismal bright.
COWLEY.

An univerfal confternation:

His bloody eyes he hurls round, his fharp paws Tear up the ground; then runs he wild about, Lafhing his angry tail and roaring out.

Beafts creep into their dens, and tremble there; Trees, tho' no wind is stirring, shake with

fear;

Silence and horrour fill the place around:
Echo itself dares fcarce repeat the found.

THEIR

COWLEY.

HEIR fictions were often violent and unnatural.

Of his Mistress bathing:

The fish around her crouded, as they do

To the falfe light that treach'rous fishers
fhew,

And all with as much ease might taken be,
As fhe at first took me :

For ne'er did light fo clear

Among the waves appear,

Tho' ev'ry night the fun himself set there

COWLEY.

The

The poetical effect of a Lover's name upon

glass:

My name engrav'd herein,

Doth contribute my firmness to this glafs ; Which, ever fince that charm, hath been As hard, as that which grav'd it, was.

THEIR

DONNE.

HEIR conceits were fometimes flight and trifling:

On an inconftant woman.

He enjoys thy calmy funshine now,
And no breath stirring hears,
In the clear heaven of thy brow,
No fmalleft cloud appears.

He fees thee gentle, fair and gay,

And trufts the faithlefs April of thy May.

COWLEY.

Upon a paper written with the juice of lemon, and read by the fire:

Nothing yet in thee is feen,

But when a genial heat warms thee within, A new-born wood of various lines there grows; Here buds an L, and there a B,

Here sprouts a V, and there a T,

And all the flourishing letters ftand in rows.

As

GOWLEY.

they fought only for novelty, they did not much enquire whether their allufions were to things high or low, elegant or grofs; whether they compared the little to the great, or the great to the little.

Phyfick