Poem by Fulke Greville Brooke

Caelica 16. Fie, foolish earth, think you the heaven wants glory

Fie, foolish earth, think you the heaven wants glory
Because your shadows do yourself benight?
All's dark unto the blind, let them be sorry;
But love still in herself finds her delight.

Fie, fond desire, think you that love wants glory
Because your shadows do yourself benight?
The hopes and fears of lust may make men sorry,
The heavens in themselves are ever bright.

Then earth, stand fast, the sky that you benight
Will turn again and so restore your glory;
Desire, be steady, hope is your delight,
An orb wherein no creature can be sorry,
Love being placed above these middle regions
Where every passion wars itself with legions.

1. Caelica 29. The nurse-life wheat within his green husk growing
2. Caelica 12. Cupid, thou naughty boy, when thou wert loathed
3. Elegy for Philip Sidney
4. Caelica 4. You little stars that live in skies
5. Caelica 83. You that seek what life is in death

Print

1184 Views

Last Poems

To Russian version