English Poetry I: From Chaucer to Gray.
The Harvard Classics. 1909–14. |
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| 176. Present in Absence |
| | | John Donne (1573–1631) |
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| ABSENCE, hear thou my protestation | |
| Against thy strength, | |
| Distance, and length; | |
| Do what thou canst for alteration: | |
| For hearts of truest mettle | 5 |
| Absence doth join, and Time doth settle. | |
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| Who loves a mistress of such quality, | |
| His mind hath found | |
| Affection’s ground | |
| Beyond time, place, and all mortality. | 10 |
| To hearts that cannot vary | |
| Absence is present, Time doth tarry. | |
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| My senses want their outward motion | |
| Which now within | |
| Reason doth win, | 15 |
| Redoubled by her secret notion: | |
| Like rich men that take pleasure | |
| In hiding more than handling treasure. | |
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| By absence this good means I gain, | |
| That I can catch her, | 20 |
| Where none can watch her, | |
| In some close corner of my brain: | |
| There I embrace and kiss her; | |
| And so enjoy her and none miss her. | |
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