Love

Desire's Government

by Anonymous (Elizabethan miscellanies) c. 1575–1602

From A Poetical Rhapsody (1602), ed. A. H. Bullen (1890–91)

Love

Where wit is over- ruled by will,
And will is led by fond Desire,
There Reason were as good be still,
As speaking, kindle greater fire;
For where Desire doth bear the sway,
The heart must rule, the head obey.

What boots the cunning pilot's skill,
To tell which way to shape their course;
When he that steers will have his will,
And drive them where he list, perforce?
So Reason shows the truth in vain,
Where fond Desire as king doth reign.

✦ ✦ ✦

Credited to "A. W." in Francis Davison's own manuscript list (Bullen prints the initials in square brackets).

MLA

Anonymous (Elizabethan miscellanies). “Desire's Government.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/anonymous-elizabethan-miscellanies/86/.

Chicago

Anonymous (Elizabethan miscellanies). “Desire's Government.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/anonymous-elizabethan-miscellanies/86/.

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