Poems and translations with the Sophy / written by the Honourable Sir John Denham, Knight of the Bath.

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Title: Poems and translations with the Sophy / written by the Honourable Sir John Denham, Knight of the Bath.
Author: Denham, John, Sir, 1615-1669.
Publication: London :: Printed for H. Herringman ...,; 1668.
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Link to this Item: http://name.umdl.umich.edu/A35654.0001.001
Cite this Item: "Poems and translations with the Sophy / written by the Honourable Sir John Denham, Knight of the Bath." In the digital collection Early English Books Online. https://name.umdl.umich.edu/A35654.0001.001. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed April 28, 2025.

WHat gives us that Fantastick Fit,
That all our Judgment and our Wit
To vulgar custom we submit?

Treason, Theft, Murther, all the rest
Of that foul Legion we so detest,
Are in their proper names exprest.

Why is it then sought sin or shame,
Those necessary parts to name,

From whence we went, and whence we came?

Nature, what ere she wants, requires;
With Love enflaming our desires,
Finds Engines fit to quench those fires:

Death she abhors; yet when men die,
We are present; but no stander by
Looks on when we that loss supply:

Forbidden Wares sell twice as dear;
Even Sack prohibited last year,
A most abominable rate did bear.

Tis plain our eyes and ears are nice,
Only to raise by that device,
Of those Commodities the price.

Thus Reason's shadows us betray
By Tropes and Figures led astray,
From Nature, both her Guide and way.