To M[r]. S[amuel] B[rooke]. Letters to Several Personages. John Donne. 1896. The Poems of John Donne

John Donne (1572–1631). The Poems of John Donne. 1896.

Letters to Several Personages

To M[r]. S[amuel] B[rooke]


O THOU which to search out the secret parts
Of the India, or rather Paradise
Of knowledge, hast with courage and advice
Lately launch’d into the vast sea of arts;
Disdain not in thy constant travelling	5
To do as other voyagers, and make
Some turns into less creeks, and wisely take
Fresh water at the Heliconian spring.
I sing not, siren-like, to tempt, for I
Am harsh; nor as those schismatics with you,	10
Which draw all wits of good hope to their crew;
But seeing in you bright sparks of poetry,
I, though I brought no fuel, had desire
With these articulate blasts to blow the fire.