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Home  »  The Oxford Book of English Verse  »  331. Falsehood

Arthur Quiller-Couch, ed. 1919. The Oxford Book of English Verse: 1250–1900.

William Cartwright. 1611–1643

331. Falsehood

STILL do the stars impart their light 
To those that travel in the night; 
Still time runs on, nor doth the hand 
Or shadow on the dial stand; 
The streams still glide and constant are:         5
      Only thy mind 
      Untrue I find, 
      Which carelessly 
      Neglects to be 
Like stream or shadow, hand or star.  10
 
Fool that I am! I do recall 
My words, and swear thou’rt like them all, 
Thou seem’st like stars to nourish fire, 
But O how cold is thy desire! 
And like the hand upon the brass  15
      Thou point’st at me 
      In mockery; 
      If I come nigh 
      Shade-like thou’lt fly, 
And as the stream with murmur pass.  20