Page 261

Abraham Cowley. (1618–1667) (continued)

2868

A mighty pain to love it is,
And ’t is a pain that pain to miss;
But of all pains, the greatest pain
It is to love, but love in vain.

From Anacreon, vii. Gold.

2869

Hope, of all ills that men endure,
The only cheap and universal cure.

The Mistress. For Hope.

2870

    Th’ adorning thee with so much art
  Is but a barb’rous skill;
’T is like the pois’ning of a dart,
  Too apt before to kill.

The Waiting Maid.

2871

Nothing is there to come, and nothing past,
But an eternal now does always last. 1

Davideis. Book i. Line 25.

2872

    When Israel was from bondage led,
  Led by the Almighty’s hand
  From out of foreign land,
The great sea beheld and fled.

Davideis. Book i. Line 41.

2873

An harmless flaming meteor shone for hair,
And fell adown his shoulders with loose care. 2

Davideis. Book ii. Line 95.

2874

The monster London laugh at me.

Of Solitude, xi.

2875

Let but thy wicked men from out thee go,
And all the fools that crowd thee so,
Even thou, who dost thy millions boast,
A village less than Islington wilt grow,
A solitude almost.

Of Solitude, vii.

2876

The fairest garden in her looks,
And in her mind the wisest books.

The Garden, i.

2877

God the first garden made, and the first city Cain. 3

The Garden, ii.

Note 1.
One of our poets (which is it?) speaks of an everlasting now.—Robert Southey: The Doctor, chap. xxv. p. 1. [back]

Note 2.
Loose his beard and hoary hair
Stream’d like a meteor to the troubled air.
Thomas Gray: The Bard, i. 2. [back]

Note 3.
See Bacon, Quotation 32. [back]

Contents -AUTHOR INDEX -CONCORDANCE INDEX -BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD