Sir John Suckling (1609-1642). When, Dearest, I but Think of Thee. William Stanley Braithwaite, ed. 1907. The Book of Elizabethan Verse

William Stanley Braithwaite, ed. The Book of Elizabethan Verse. 1907.

When, Dearest, I but Think of Thee

By Sir John Suckling (1609–1642)


WHEN, dearest, I but think of thee,
Methinks all things that lovely be
Are present and my soul delighted:
For beauties that from worth arise
Are like the grace of deities,	5
Still present with us, tho’ unsighted.

Thus while I sit and sigh the day
With all his borrowed lights away,
Till night’s black wings do overtake me,
Thinking on thee, thy beauties then,	10
As sudden lights do sleepy men,
So they by their bright rays awake me.

Thus absence dies, and dying proves
No absence can subsist with loves
That do partake of fair perfection:	15
Since in the darkest night they may
By love’s quick motion find a way
To see each other by reflection.

The waving sea can with each flood
Bathe some high promont that hath stood	20
Far from the main up in the river:
O think not then but love can do
As much! for that’s an ocean too,
Which flows not every day, but ever!