"So great a Light hath set my mind on fire, / That flesh and bone consume with secret flame"
— Watson, Thomas (1555/6-1592)
Author
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Emprinted by John Wolfe for Gabriell Cawood, [etc.]
Date
1582
Metaphor
"So great a Light hath set my mind on fire, / That flesh and bone consume with secret flame"
Metaphor in Context
So great a Light hath set my mind on fire,
That flesh and bone consume with secret flame,
Each vein dries up, wit yields to deep desire;
I scarce (alas) dare say, for very shame,
How fain my soul an interchange would make
Twixt this her present State and Limbo lake;
And yet she dreads, lest when she parts from hence,
Her Heats be such that Charon will retire,
And let her pass for prayer, nor for pence,(1)
For fear his with'red boat be set on fire;
So dang'rous are the flames of Mighty Love
In Styx itself, in earth, or heav'n above.
Wherefore dear Dame vouchsafe to rue my case,
And salve the sore which thou thyself hast made:
My Heats first grew by gazing on thy face,
Whose lights were such that I could find no shade:
And thou my weary Soul bend all thy force,
By Plaints and Tears to move her to remorse.
That flesh and bone consume with secret flame,
Each vein dries up, wit yields to deep desire;
I scarce (alas) dare say, for very shame,
How fain my soul an interchange would make
Twixt this her present State and Limbo lake;
And yet she dreads, lest when she parts from hence,
Her Heats be such that Charon will retire,
And let her pass for prayer, nor for pence,(1)
For fear his with'red boat be set on fire;
So dang'rous are the flames of Mighty Love
In Styx itself, in earth, or heav'n above.
Wherefore dear Dame vouchsafe to rue my case,
And salve the sore which thou thyself hast made:
My Heats first grew by gazing on thy face,
Whose lights were such that I could find no shade:
And thou my weary Soul bend all thy force,
By Plaints and Tears to move her to remorse.
Categories
Provenance
Searching "mind" in UPenn's online library of Elizabethan Authors
Citation
Transcribed by Barboura Flues. Web version created by Robert Brazil. copyright © 2002. http://www.elizabethanauthors.com/hek00.htm
Date of Entry
12/16/2005
