Ralph Waldo Emerson, comp. (1803–1882). Parnassus: An Anthology of Poetry. 1880.
Apology for Having Loved beforeEdmund Waller (16061687)
T
Of the grape’s surprising juice,
To the first delicious cup
All their reason render up:
Neither do, nor care to, know,
Whether it be best or no.
Sway’d by chance, nor choice or art,
To the first that’s fair or kind,
Make a present of their heart:
’Tis not she that first we love,
But whom dying we approve.
Stars gave the first delight;
Admiring in the gloomy shade
Those little drops of light.
Removed them from the skies,
He gazing toward the east did stand,
She entertained his eyes.
All those he ’gan despise;
His wonder was determin’d there,
And could no higher rise.
A more refulgent light;
For that (as mine your beauties now),
Employed his utmost sight.