Edmund Waller
Edmund Waller
Edmund Waller, FRSwas an English poet and politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1624 and 1679. He was educated at Eton and King's College, Cambridge. He entered Parliament early and was at first an active member of the opposition. In 1631 he married a London heiress who died in 1634. Later he became a Royalist, and in 1643 was leader in a plot to seize London for Charles I. For this he was imprisoned,...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionPoet
Date of Birth3 March 1606
battered dark draw eternal light men near time wiser
The soul's dark cottage, battered and decayed,Lets in new light through chinks that time has made.Stronger by weakness, wiser men become,As they draw near to their eternal home.
happy
So all we know of what they do above, Is that they happy are, and that they love.
carve lasting latin marble poet poets
Poets that lasting marble seek/ Must carve in Latin or in Greek.
lying humble nests
The lark that shuns on lofty boughs to build, Her humble nest, lies silent in the field.
soul tea vapour
Tea does our fancy aid, Repress those vapours which the head invade And keeps that palace of the soul serene.
muse rapture conqueror
Illustrious acts high raptures do infuse, And every conqueror creates a muse.
rain sailor shepherds
Vexed sailors cursed the rain, for which poor shepherds prayed in vain.
hero angel shining
Seeming devotion does but gild a knave, That's neither faithful, honest, just, nor brave; But where religion does with virtue join, It makes a hero like an angel shine.
soul zealous too-much
The fear of Hell, or aiming to be blest, Savors too much of private interest. This moved not Moses, nor the zealous Paul, Who for their friends abandoned soul and all.
fate eagles made
That eagle's fate and mine are one, Which, on the shaft that made him die, Espied a feather of his own, Wherewith he wont to soar so high.
passion wind sea
The seas are quiet when the winds give o'er; So calm are we when passions are no more!
humble arrows levels
Thrice happy is that humble pair, Beneath the level of all care! Over whose heads those arrows fly, Of sad distrust and jealousy.
soul palaces
And keeps the palace of the soul.
yoke language flanders
Under the tropic is our language spoke, And part of Flanders hath receiv'd our yoke.