Thomas Humphry Ward, ed. The English Poets. 1880–1918.rnVol. II. The Seventeenth Century: Ben Jonson to Dryden
Charles Sackville, Earl of Dorset (1638–1706)Songs
D
United cast too fierce a light,
Which blazes high, but quickly dies,
Pains not the heart, but hurts the sight.
Smooth are his looks, and soft his pace,
Her Cupid is a blackguard boy,
That runs his link full in your face.
P
A thousand different ways
Those few short moments snatched by love
From many tedious days.
The censure of the grave,
Though love ’s a tyrant in your eyes,
Your heart is but a slave.
Nor can it e’er submit
To let that fop, Discretion, ride
In triumph over it.
Who daily counsel me
Fame and ambition to pursue,
And leave off loving thee.
To fools who thus advise,
May I be dull enough to grow
Most miserably wise.