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Thu 30 May, 2013 07:17 am
Context:
Love’s Omnipresence
Joshua Sylvester
WERE I as base as is the lowly plain,
And you, my Love, as high as heaven above,
Yet should the thoughts of me your humble swain
Ascend to heaven, in honour of my Love.
Were I as high as heaven above the plain,
And you, my Love, as humble and as low
As are the deepest bottoms of the main,
Whereso’er you were, with you my love should go.
Were you the earth, dear Love, and I the skies,
My love should shine on you like to the sun,
And look upon you with ten thousand eyes
Till heaven wax’d blind, and till the world were done.
Whereso’er I am, below, or else above you,
Whereso’er you are, my heart shall truly love you.
The moonlight is said to wax and wane.
This could refer to that kind of movement.
@oristarA,
That's really wretched poetry. My own theory is that the lack of grammar in English has something to do with the general lack of good poetry in English. There isn't any sort of a large body of words which rhyme naturally in English.
@gungasnake,
gungasnake wrote:
That's really wretched poetry. My own theory is that the lack of grammar in English has something to do with the general lack of good poetry in English. There isn't any sort of a large body of words which rhyme naturally in English.
Thanks for the comment.
I wonder what "the main" means in "As are the deepest bottoms of the main."
@gungasnake,
Quote:My own theory is that the lack of grammar in English
Your theory on this is as wacky as your theories on most everything, gunga. You don't have the foggiest notion of which you speak.
@oristarA,
Quote:Were you the earth, dear Love, and I the skies,
My love should shine on you like to the sun,
And look upon you with ten thousand eyes
Till heaven wax’d blind, and till the world were done.
I believe "wax'd blind" means until the heavens/skies/the sun above cease to look /shine upon the Earth.
Were you the earth, dear Love, and I the skies,
My love should shine on you as does to the sun,
And it would look upon you with ten thousand eyes
Till heaven became blind, and till the world were done.
@JTT,
JTT wrote:
I believe "wax'd blind" means until the heavens/skies/the sun above cease to look /shine upon the Earth.
Were you the earth, dear Love, and I the skies,
My love should shine on you as does to the sun,
And it would look upon you with ten thousand eyes
Till heaven became blind, and till the world were done.
Thank you JTT.
BTW, "as does to the sun" looks strange to me.
Does it mean "as the sky shines on the sun"? Isn't the reverse true in our daily life?
@oristarA,
Quote:BTW, "as does to the sun" looks strange to me.
Does it mean "as the sky shines on the sun"? Isn't the reverse true in our daily life?
I just added some words hither and yon to illustrate what I believe is the meaning there, Ori. With 'does', I, personally would pull the 'to'.
@JTT,
JTT wrote:
Quote:BTW, "as does to the sun" looks strange to me.
Does it mean "as the sky shines on the sun"? Isn't the reverse true in our daily life?
I just added some words hither and yon to illustrate what I believe is the meaning there, Ori. With 'does', I, personally would pull the 'to'.
Yeah, depletion of the to makes sense.
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