Dulnesse

Why do I languish thus, drooping and dull,
                  As if I were all earth?
O give me quicknesse, that I may with mirth
                                  Praise thee brim-full!

The wanton lover in a curious strain
                  Can praise his fairest fair;
And with quaint metaphors her curled hair
                                  Curl o'er again.

Thou art my loveliness, my life, my light,
                  Beautie alone to me:
Thy bloudy death and undeserv'd, makes thee
                                  Pure red and white.

When all perfections as but one appeare,
                  That those thy form doth show,
The very dust, where thou dost tread and go,
                                  Makes beauties here.

Where are my lines then? my approaches? views?
                  Where are my window-songs?
Lovers are still pretending, & ev'n wrongs
                                  Sharpen their Muse:

But I am lost in flesh, whose sugred lyes
                  Still mock me, and grow bold:
Sure thou didst put a minde there, if I could
                                  Finde where it lies.

Lord, cleare thy gift, that with a constant wit
                  I may but look towards thee:
Look onely; for to love thee, who can be,
                                  What angel fit?

George Herbert
The Essential Herbert
Selected and with an introduction by Anthony Hecht.
The Ecco Press

Introduction and selection copyright © 1987 by Anthony Hecht.
All rights reserved.
Reproduced by Poetry Daily with permission of The Ecco Press.