Thomas Humphry Ward, ed. The English Poets. 1880–1918.rnVol. II. The Seventeenth Century: Ben Jonson to Dryden
William Habington (16051654)To Cupid, upon a Dimple in Castaras Cheek
N
What cold tyrant dimmed thy sight?
Had’st thou eyes to see my fair,
Thou would’st sigh thyself to air,
Fearing, to create this one,
Nature had herself undone.
But if you, when this you hear,
Fall down murdered through your ear,
Beg of Jove that you may have
In her cheek a dimpled grave.
Lily, rose, and violet
Shall the perfumed hearse beset;
While a beauteous sheet of lawn
O’er the wanton corpse is drawn:
And all lovers use this breath;
‘Here lies Cupid blest in death.’