Poems &c. written by Mr. Ed. Waller ... ; and printed by a copy of his own hand-writing ; all the lyrick poems in this booke were set by Mr. Henry Lawes ...
About this Item
- Title
- Poems &c. written by Mr. Ed. Waller ... ; and printed by a copy of his own hand-writing ; all the lyrick poems in this booke were set by Mr. Henry Lawes ...
- Author
- Waller, Edmund, 1606-1687.
- Publication
- London :: Printed by I.N. for Hu. Mosley ...,
- 1645.
- Rights/Permissions
-
This keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the Early English Books Online Text Creation Partnership. Searching, reading, printing, or downloading EEBO-TCP texts is reserved for the authorized users of these project partner institutions. Permission must be granted for subsequent distribution, in print or electronically, of this text, in whole or in part. Please contact project staff at eebotcp-info@umich.edu for further information or permissions.
- Cite this Item
-
"Poems &c. written by Mr. Ed. Waller ... ; and printed by a copy of his own hand-writing ; all the lyrick poems in this booke were set by Mr. Henry Lawes ..." In the digital collection Early English Books Online 2. https://name.umdl.umich.edu/A67344.0001.001. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed April 30, 2024.
Pages
Page 154
Thou hast alone those various inclinations
Which Nature gives to Ages, Sexes, Nations;
Hast tracked with thy all-resembling Pen
What ever Custome has impos'd on Men,
Or ill-got Habits (which distorts them so,
That scarce one Brother can the brother know)
Is representing to the wondring eyes
Of all that see or read thy Comedies;
Who ever in those Glasses look, may find
The spots return'd, or graces of the mind;
And by the helpe of so divine an Art,
At leisure view and dress his nobler Part.
Narcissus cous'ned by that flattering Well,
And nothing could but of his beauty tell;
Had here discovering the deform'd estate
Of his fond mind preserv'd himselfe with hate.
But Vertue too, aswell as Vice, is clad
In flesh and blood so well, that Plato had
Page 155
Beheld what his high fancie once embrac'd,
Vertue with colours, speech, and motion grac'd.
The sundry Postures of thy copious Muse
Who would express, a thousand Tongues must use;
Whose Fate's no less peculiar then thy Art;
For as thou couldst all Characters impart,
So none can render thine, who still escapes
Like Proteus in variety of shapes,
Who was, nor this, nor that, but all we find,
And all we can imagine in mankind.