William Stanley Braithwaite, ed. The Book of Elizabethan Verse. 1907.
OdeJohn Donne (15721631)
A
Against thy strength,
Distance and length:
Do what thou canst for alteration,
For hearts of truest mettle
Absence doth join and Time doth settle.
He soon hath found
Affection’s ground
Beyond time, place, and all mortality.
To hearts that cannot vary
Absence is present, Time doth tarry.
Which now within
Reason doth win,
Redoubled in her secret notion:
Like rich that take pleasure
In hiding more than handling treasure.
That I can catch her
Where none doth watch her,
In some close corner of my brain:
There I embrace and kiss her,
And so I both enjoy and miss her.