Edmund Waller(1606–1687)
Of the Last Verses in the Book
W h e n w e for age c o u l d n e i t h e r read n o r write,
T h e s u b j e c t m a d e us able to indite;utter; dictate
T h e soul, w i t h n o b l e r r e s o l u t i o n s d e c k e d ,
T h e b o d y s t o o p i n g , d o e s h e r s e l f erect.
No m o r t a l parts are requisite to raise
H e r that, u n b o d i e d , c a n h e r M a k e r praise.
T h e s e a s are q u i e t w h e n t h e w i n d s give o'er;
S o c a l m are w e w h e n p a s s i o n s are n o m o r e !
For t h e n w e k n o w h o w v a i n i t w a s t o b o a s t
Of f l e e t i n g t h i n g s , so c e r t a i n to be lost.
Clouds of affection 0 from our younger eyesemotion
Conceal that emptiness which age descries. 0discerns
The soul's dark cottage, battered and decayed,
Lets in new light through chinks that time has made;
Stronger by weakness, wiser men become,
As they draw near to their eternal home.
Leaving the old, both worlds at once they view,
That stand upon the threshold of the new.