Love
Madrigal: Allusion to the Confusion of Babel
From A Poetical Rhapsody (1602), ed. A. H. Bullen (1890–91)
The wretched life I live,
In my weak senses such confusion maketh,
That, like the accursed rabble
That built the tower of Babel,
My wit mistaketh.
And unto nothing a right name doth give.
I term her my dear love, that deadly hates me
My chiefest good, her that's my chiefest evil;
Her saint and goddess, who's a witch, a devil;
Her my sole hope, that with despair amates me;
My balm I call her, that with poison fills me;
And her I term my life, that daily kills me.
Cite this poem
MLA
Davison, Francis. “Madrigal: Allusion to the Confusion of Babel.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/davison/58/.
Chicago
Davison, Francis. “Madrigal: Allusion to the Confusion of Babel.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/davison/58/.
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