1 Sweet End, thou sea of satisfaction, which The weary streams unto thy bosom tak'st; The springs unto the spring thou first doth reach, And, by thine inexhausted kindness, mak'st
Them fall so deep in love with thee, that through All rocks and mountains to thy arms they flow.
2 Thou art the centre, in whose close embrace, From all the wild circumference, each line Directly runs to find its resting-place: Upon their swiftest wings, to perch on thine Ennobling breast, which is their only butt, The arrows of all high desires are shot.
3 All labours pant and languish after thee, Stretching their longest arms to catch their bliss; Which in the way, how sweet soe'er it be, They never find; and therefore on they press Further and further, till desired thou,
Their only crown, meet'st their ambition's brow.
4 With smiles the ploughman to the smiling spring Returns not answer, but is jealous till
His patient hopes thy happy season bring Unto their ripeness with his corn, and fill
His barns with plenteous sheaves, with joy his heart;
For thou, and none but thou, his harvest art.
5 The no less sweating and industrious lover Lays not his panting heart to rest upon
Kind looks and gracious promises, which hover On love's outside, and may as soon be gone As easily they came; but strives to see His hopes and nuptials ratified by thee.
6 The traveller suspecteth every way, Though they thick traced and fairly beaten be; Nor is secure but that his leader may
Step into some mistake as well as he;
Or that his strength may fail him; till he win Possession of thee, his wishèd inn.
7 Nobly besmeared with Olympic dust, The hardy runner prosecutes his race With obstinate celerity, in trust
That thou wilt wipe and glorify his face:
His prize's soul art thou, whose precious sake Makes him those mighty pains with pleasure take.
8 The mariner will trust no winds, although Upon his sails they blow fair flattery;
No tides which, with all fawning smoothness, flow Can charm his fears into security;
He credits none but thee, who art his bay,
To which, through calms and storms, he hunts his
9 And so have I, cheered up with hopes at last To double thee, endured a tedious sea; Through public foaming tempests have I passed; Through flattering calms of private suavity; Through interrupting company's thick press; And through the lake of mine own laziness:
10 Through many sirens' charms, which me invited To dance to ease's tunes, the tunes in fashion; Through many cross, misgiving thoughts, which frighted
My jealous pen; and through the conjuration Of ignorant and envious censures, which Implacably against all poems itch:
11 But chiefly those which venture in a way That yet no Muse's feet have chose to trace; Which trust that Psyche and her Jesus may Adorn a verse with as becoming grace
As Venus and her son; that truth A nobler theme than lies and vanity.
12 Which broach no Aganippe's streams, but those Where virgin souls without a blush may bathe: Which dare the boisterous multitude oppose With gentle numbers; which despise the wrath Of galled sin; which think not fit to trace Or Greek or Roman song with slavish pace.
13 And seeing now I am in ken of thee, The harbour which inflamèd my desire, And with this steady patience ballas'd1 me In my uneven road; I am on fire,
Till into thy embrace myself I throw, And on the shore hang up my finished vow.
1 'Tis a child of fancy's getting, Brought up between hope and fear, Fed with smiles, grown by uniting Strong, and so kept by desire: 'Tis a perpetual vestal fire Never dying,
Whose smoke like incense doth aspire, Upwards flying.
2 It is a soft magnetic stone,
Attracting hearts by sympathy, Binding up close two souls in one, Both discoursing secretly: 'Tis the true Gordian knot, that ties Yet ne'er unbinds,
Fixing thus two lovers' eyes, As well as minds.
8 "Tis the spheres' heavenly harmony, Where two skilful hands do strike; And every sound expressively Marries sweetly with the like: 'Tis the world's everlasting chain That all things tied,
And bid them, like the fixed wain, Unmoved to bide.
PROTEST OF LOVE.
When I thee all o'er do view
1 all o'er must love thee too.
By that smooth forehead, where's expressed The candour of thy peaceful breast,
By those fair twin-like stars that shine, And by those apples of thine eyne: By the lambkins and the kids
Playing 'bout thy fair eyelids: By each peachy-blossomed cheek, And thy satin skin, more sleek And white than Flora's whitest lilies, Or the maiden daffodillies:
By that ivory porch, thy nose: By those double-blanched rows Of teeth, as in pure coral set: By each azure rivulet,
Running in thy temples, and
Those flowery meadows 'twixt them stand: By each pearl-tipt ear by nature, as On each a jewel pendent was:
By those lips all dew'd with bliss, Made happy in each other's kiss.
Oh, those smooth, soft, and ruby lips,
Whose rosy and vermilion hue
Betrays the blushing thoughts in you: Whose fragrant, aromatic breath Would revive dying saints from death, Whose siren-like, harmonious air Speaks music and enchants the ear; Who would not hang, and fixed there Wish he might know no other sphere? Oh for a charm to make the sun
Drunk, and forget his motion!
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