Love

Cælia: "Why might I not for once"

by William Browne of Tavistock 1590–1645

From Pastoral Poetry (Pembroke Booklets)

Love

Why might I not for once be of that sect,
Which hold that souls, when Nature hath her right,
Some other bodies to themselves elect;
And sunlike make the day, and license night?
That soul, whose setting in one hemisphere
Was to enlighten straight another part;
In that horizon, if I see it there,
Calls for my first respect and its desert;
Her virtue is the same and may be more;
For as the sun is distant, so his power
In operation differs, and the store
Of thick clouds interpos'd make him less our.
And verily I think her climate such,
Since to my former flame it adds so much.

MLA

Tavistock, William Browne of. “Cælia: "Why might I not for once".” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/browne_w/23/.

Chicago

Tavistock, William Browne of. “Cælia: "Why might I not for once".” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/browne_w/23/.

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