Ben Jonson


  U  N  D  E  R  W  O  O  D  S .

 MISCELLANEOUS POEMS.


XXVI. — TO THE AUTHOR.1   

            Truth is the trial of itself,
               And needs no other Touch;
            And purer than the purest gold,
               Refine it ne'er so much.

            It is the life and light of love,
               The sun that ever shineth,
            And spirit of that special grace,
               That faith and love defineth.

            It is the warrant of the word,
               That yields a scent so sweet,
            As gives a power to faith to tread
               All falsehood under feet.

            It is the sword that doth divide
               The marrow from the bone,
            And in effect of heavenly love
               Doth shew the Holy One.

            This, blessed Warre, thy blessed book
               Unto the world doth prove :
            A worthy work, and worthy well
               Of the most worthy love.


   1  Taken from the complimentary verses prefixed to The
Touchstone of  Truth, 12mo. Lond. 1630, by T. Warre.

 
Source:
Jonson, Ben.  The Works of Ben Jonson.
Boston: Phillips, Sampson, and Co., 1853. 818.
Backto Works of Ben Jonson

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