When, Dearest, I But Think of Thee



When, dearest I but think of thee,
Methinks all things that lovely be
Are present, and my soul delighted:
For beauties that from worth arise
Are like the grace of deities,
Still present with us, tho’ unsighted.

Thus while I sit and sigh the day
With all his borrow’d lights away,
Till night’s black wings do overtake me,
Thinking on thee, thy beauties then,
As sudden lights do sleepy men,
So they by their bright rays awake me.

Thus absence dies, and dying proves
No absence can subsist with loves
That do partake of fair perfection:
Since in the darkest night they may
By love’s quick motion find a way
To see each other by reflection.

The waving sea can with each flood
Bathe some high promont that hath stood
Far from the main up in the river:
O think not then but love can do
As much! for that’s an ocean too,
Which flows not every day, but ever!

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

48 sec read
67

Quick analysis:

Scheme AABXXB CCADDA XXECCE BXFGGF
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 846
Words 162
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 6, 6, 6, 6

Sir John Suckling

Sir John Suckling was an English poet and one prominent figure among those renowned for careless gaiety wit and all the accomplishments of a Cavalier poet and also the inventor of the card game cribbage He is best known for his poem Ballad Upon a Wedding more…

All Sir John Suckling poems | Sir John Suckling Books

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    Poet George McDonald wrote a two-word poem that reads _____ _____?
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