The Oxford Book of English Verse, 1250-1900

English poetry

Fly envious Time, till thou run out thy race,
    Call on the lazy leaden-stepping hours,
    Whose speed is but the heavy Plummets pace;
    And glut thy self with what thy womb devours,
    Which is no more then what is false and vain,
    And meerly mortal dross;
    So little is our loss,
    So little is thy gain.
    For when as each thing bad thou hast entomb’d,
    And last of all, thy greedy self consum’d,
    Then long Eternity shall greet our bliss
    With an individual kiss;
    And Joy shall overtake us as a flood,
    When every thing that is sincerely good
    And perfectly divine,
    With Truth, and Peace, and Love shall ever shine
    About the supreme Throne
    Of him, t’whose happy-making sight alone,
    When once our heav’nly-guided soul shall clime,
    Then all this Earthy grosnes quit,
    Attir’d with Stars, we shall for ever sit,
      Triumphing over Death, and Chance, and thee O Time.


_309._ _At a Solemn Musick_

    Blest pair of Sirens, pledges of Heav’ns joy,
    Sphear-born harmonious Sisters, Voice, and Vers,
    Wed your divine sounds, and mixt power employ
    Dead things with inbreath’d sense able to pierce,
    And to our high-rais’d phantasie present,
    That undisturbèd Song of pure content,
    Ay sung before the saphire-colour’d throne
    To him that sits theron
    With Saintly shout, and solemn Jubily,
    Where the bright Seraphim in burning row
    Their loud up-lifted Angel trumpets blow,
    And the Cherubick host in thousand quires
    Touch their immortal Harps of golden wires,
    With those just Spirits that wear victorious Palms,
    Hymns devout and holy Psalms
    Singing everlastingly;
    That we on Earth with undiscording voice
    May rightly answer that melodious noise;
    As once we did, till disproportion’d sin
    Jarr’d against natures chime, and with harsh din
    Broke the fair musick that all creatures made
    To their great Lord, whose love their motion sway’d
    In perfect Diapason, whilst they stood
    In first obedience, and their state of good.
    O may we soon again renew that Song,
    And keep in tune with Heav’n, till God ere long
    To his celestial consort us unite,
    To live with him, and sing in endles morn of light.


_310._ _L’Allegro_

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

Opening the text

General

The Oxford Book of English Verse, 1250-1900

English poetry

Fly envious Time, till thou run out thy race,
    Call on the lazy leaden-stepping hours,
    Whose speed is but the heavy Plummets pace;
    And glut thy self with what thy womb devours,
    Which is no more then what is false and vain,
    And meerly mortal dross;
    So little is our loss,
    So little is thy gain.
    For when as each thing bad thou hast entomb’d,
    And last of all, thy greedy self consum’d,
    Then long Eternity shall greet our bliss
    With an individual kiss;
    And Joy shall overtake us as a flood,
    When every thing that is sincerely good
    And perfectly divine,
    With Truth, and Peace, and Love shall ever shine
    About the supreme Throne
    Of him, t’whose happy-making sight alone,
    When once our heav’nly-guided soul shall clime,
    Then all this Earthy grosnes quit,
    Attir’d with Stars, we shall for ever sit,
      Triumphing over Death, and Chance, and thee O Time.


_309._ _At a Solemn Musick_

    Blest pair of Sirens, pledges of Heav’ns joy,
    Sphear-born harmonious Sisters, Voice, and Vers,
    Wed your divine sounds, and mixt power employ
    Dead things with inbreath’d sense able to pierce,
    And to our high-rais’d phantasie present,
    That undisturbèd Song of pure content,
    Ay sung before the saphire-colour’d throne
    To him that sits theron
    With Saintly shout, and solemn Jubily,
    Where the bright Seraphim in burning row
    Their loud up-lifted Angel trumpets blow,
    And the Cherubick host in thousand quires
    Touch their immortal Harps of golden wires,
    With those just Spirits that wear victorious Palms,
    Hymns devout and holy Psalms
    Singing everlastingly;
    That we on Earth with undiscording voice
    May rightly answer that melodious noise;
    As once we did, till disproportion’d sin
    Jarr’d against natures chime, and with harsh din
    Broke the fair musick that all creatures made
    To their great Lord, whose love their motion sway’d
    In perfect Diapason, whilst they stood
    In first obedience, and their state of good.
    O may we soon again renew that Song,
    And keep in tune with Heav’n, till God ere long
    To his celestial consort us unite,
    To live with him, and sing in endles morn of light.


_310._ _L’Allegro_

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

The Oxford Book of English Verse, 1250-1900

The Oxford Book of English Verse, 1250-1900

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