Thomas Carew. Ingrateful Beauty Threatened.

Thomas Carew

INGRATEFUL BEAUTY THREATENED.

KNOW, Celia, since thou art so proud,
'Twas I that gave thee thy renown ;
Thou had'st in the forgotten crowd
Of common beauties lived unknown,
Had not my verse exhaled thy name,
And with it imp'd the wings of Fame.

That killing power is none of thine :
I gave it to thy voice and eyes ;
Thy sweets, thy graces, all are mine ;
Thou art my star, shin'st in my skies :
Then dart not from thy borrow'd sphere
Lightning on him that fix'd thee there.

Tempt me with such affrights no more,
Lest what I made I uncreate ;
Let fools thy mystic forms adore,
I'll know thee in thy mortal state :
Wise poets that wrapp'd Truth in tales,
Knew her themselves through all her veils.

Source:
Vincent, Arthur, ed. The Poems of Thomas Carew.
London: George Routledge & Sons, Ltd., nd. 23.

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