Edmund Waller. 1605-1687

The yielding marble of her snowy breast.

On a Lady passing through a Crowd of People.

That eagle's fate and mine are one,

Which on the shaft that made him die

Espied a feather of his own,

Wherewith he wont to soar so high.[219:4]

To a Lady singing a Song of his Composing.

A narrow compass! and yet there

Dwelt all that 's good, and all that 's fair;

Give me but what this riband bound,

Take all the rest the sun goes round.

On a Girdle.

For all we know

Of what the blessed do above

Is, that they sing, and that they love.

While I listen to thy Voice.

Poets that lasting marble seek

Must come in Latin or in Greek.

Of English Verse.

Under the tropic is our language spoke,

And part of Flanders hath receiv'd our yoke.

Upon the Death of the Lord Protector.

Go, lovely rose!

Tell her that wastes her time and me

That now she knows,

When I resemble her to thee,

How sweet and fair she seems to be.

Go, Lovely Rose.

How small a part of time they share

That are so wondrous sweet and fair!

Go, Lovely Rose.

Illustrious acts high raptures do infuse,

And every conqueror creates a muse.

Panegyric on Cromwell.

In such green palaces the first kings reign'd,

Slept in their shades, and angels entertain'd;

With such old counsellors they did advise,

And by frequenting sacred groves grew wise.

On St. James's Park.

And keeps the palace of the soul.[221:1]

Of Tea.

Poets lose half the praise they should have got,

Could it be known what they discreetly blot.

Upon Roscommon's Translation of Horace, De Arte Poetica.

Could we forbear dispute and practise love,

We should agree as angels do above.

Divine Love. Canto iii.

The soul's dark cottage, batter'd and decay'd,

Lets in new light through chinks that Time has made.[221:2]

Stronger by weakness, wiser men become

As they draw near to their eternal home:

Leaving the old, both worlds at once they view

That stand upon the threshold of the new.

On the Divine Poems.