By
John Donne.
'Tis lost, to
trust a
Tombe with such a guest,
Or to confine her in a marble
chest.
Alas, what's
Marble, jeat, or Porphyrie,
Priz'd with the Chrysolite of either eye,
Or with those
Pearles, and Rubies, which she was?
Joyne the two
Indies in one Tombe, 'tis glasse;
And so is all to her
materials,
Though every inch were ten Escurials,
Yet she's demolished: can wee keepe her then
In works of hands, or of the wits of men?
Can these memorials, ragges of
paper, give
Life to that name, by which name they must live?
Sickly, alas, short-liv'd, aborted bee
Those carcasse
verses, whose soule is not shee.
And can shee, who no longer would be shee,
Being such a
Tabernacle, stoop to be
In paper wrapt; or, when shee would not lie
In such a house, dwell in an Elegie?
But 'tis no matter; wee may well allow
Verse to live so long as the world will now,
For her death wounded it. The
world containes
Princes for armes, and Counsellors for braines,
Lawyers for tongues, Divines for
hearts, and more,
The Rich for stomackes, and for backes, the Poore;
The Officers for hands,
Merchants for feet,
By which, remote and distant Countries meet.
But those fine
spirits which do tune, and set
This Organ, are those peeces which beget
Wonder and
love; and these were shee; and she
Being spent, the
world must needs decrepit bee;
For since death will
proceed to triumph still,
He can finde nothing, after her, to kill,
Except the world it selfe, so
great as shee.
Thus brave and confident may
Nature bee,
Death cannot give her such another blow,
Because shee cannot such another show.
But must wee say she's
dead? may't not be said
That as a sundred
clocke is peecemeale laid,
Not to be lost, but by the
makers hand
Repollish'd, without errour then to stand,
Or as the Affrique Niger
streame enwombs
It selfe into the earth, and after comes
(Having first made a
naturall bridge, to passe
For many leagues)
farre greater than it was,
May't not be said, that her
grave shall restore
Her, greater, purer,
firmer, than before?
Heaven may say this, and
joy in't, but can wee
Who live, and lacke her, here this
vantage see?
What is't to us, alas, if there have beene
An Angell made a Thorne, or
Cherubin?
Wee lose by't: and as aged men are glad
Being
tastelesse growne, to joy in joyes they had,
So now the sick starv'd world must feed upon
This
joy, that we had her, who now is gone.
Rejoyce then Nature, and this World, that you,
Fearing the last fires hastning to subdue
Your force and
vigour, ere it were neere gone,
Wisely bestow'd and
laid it all on one.
One, whose cleare body was so
pure and thinne,
Because it need
disguise no thought within.
'Twas but a through-light scarfe, her minde t'inroule;
Or exhalation breath'd out from her Soule.
One, whom all men who durst no more, admir'd:
And whom, who ere had
worth enough, desir'd;
As when a Temple's built, Saints emulate
To which of them, it shall be consecrate.
But, as when heaven lookes on us with new eyes,
Those new starres every
Artist exercise,
What place they should assigne to them they doubt,
Argue,'and agree not, till those starres goe out:
So the world studied
whose this peece should be,
Till shee can be no bodies else, nor shee:
But like a
Lampe of Balsamum, desir'd
Rather t'adorne, than last, she soone expir'd,
Cloath'd in her
virgin white integritie,
For marriage, though it doe not staine, doth dye.
To scape th'infirmities which wait upon
Woman, she went away, before sh'was one;
And the worlds busie noyse to overcome,
Tooke so much death, as serv'd for opium;
For though she could not, nor could chuse to dye,
She'ath yeelded to too long an extasie:
Hee which not knowing her said
History,
Should come to reade the booke of
destiny,
How faire, and chast, humble, and high she'ad been,
Much promis'd, much perform'd, at not fifteene,
And measuring
future things, by things before,
Should turne the
leafe to reade, and reade no more,
Would thinke that either
destiny mistooke,
Or that some leaves were torne out of the booke.
But 'tis not so; Fate did but
usher her
To yeares of
reasons use, and then inferre
Her destiny to her selfe, which
liberty
She tooke but for thus much, thus much to die.
Her modestie not suffering her to bee
Fellow-
Commissioner with Destinie,
She did no more but die; if after her
Any shall live, which dare true good prefer,
Every such person is her deligate,
T'accomplish that which should have beene her Fate.
They shall make up that Booke and shall have thanks
Of Fate, and her, for filling up their blankes.
For future vertuous deeds are Legacies,
Which from the gift of her example rise;
And 'tis in heav'n part of
spirituall
mirth,
To see how well the good play her, on earth.