Richard Lovelace. To Ellinda, That lately I have not written.

Richard Lovelace.

TO ELLINDA,

That lately I have not written.

I
IF in me Anger, or disdaine
In you, or both, made me refraine
From th' Noble intercourse of Verse,
That only Vertuous thoughts rehearse ;
Then Chaste Ellinda might you feare
The sacred Vowes that I did sweare.

II
But if alone some pious thought
Me to an inward sadnesse brought,
Thinking to breath your Soule too well,
My tongue was charmed with that spell ;
And left it (since there was no roome
To Voyce your worth enough) strooke dumbe.

III
So then this Silence doth reveale
No thought of Negligence, but Zeale :
For as in Adoration,
This is Loves true Devotion :
Children and Fooles the words repeate,
But Anch'rites pray in teares and sweate.

Bronzino. Venus, Cupid and Time. 1540-45.
(Allegory of Lust). National Gallery, London.

Source:
Lovelace, Richard. The Poems of Richard Lovelace.
London: Unit Library, Ltd., 1904. 39-40.

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