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
slender strings humans
All human things Of dearest value hang on slender strings.
hands giving enough
Give us enough but with a sparing hand.
men suffering taught
His love at once and dread instruct our thought; As man He suffer'd and as God He taught.
should mould vulgar
So must the writer, whose productions should Take with the vulgar, be of vulgar mould.
blessed voice listening
For all we know Of what the blessed do above Is, that they sing, and that they love. While I listen to thy Voice.
love sweet share
How small a part of time they share, That are so wondrous sweet and fair!
home dark men
The soul's dark cottage, batter'd and decay'd, Lets in new light through chinks that Time has made. Stronger by weakness, wiser men become As they draw near to their eternal home: Leaving the old, both worlds at once they view That stand upon the threshold of the new.
life believe love-is
To love is to believe, to hope, to know; 'Tis an essay, a taste of Heaven below!
life heart dark
Consent in virtue knit your hearts so fast, That still the knot, in spite of death, does last; For as your tears, and sorrow-wounded soul, Prove well that on your part this bond is whole, So all we know of what they do above, Is that they happy are, and that they love. Let dark oblivion, and the hollow grave, Content themselves our frailer thoughts to have; Well-chosen love is never taught to die, But with our nobler part invades the sky.
life angel disputes
Could we forbear dispute, and practise love, We should agree as angels do above.
time dark light
The soul's dark cottage, batter'd and decay'd, Lets in new light through chinks that Time has made.
sweet time rose
Go, lovely rose, Tell her that wastes her time and me, That now she knows, When I resemble her to thee, How sweet and fair she seems to be.
stars men light
To man, that was in th' evening made, Stars gave the first delight; Admiring, in the gloomy shade, Those little drops of light.
latin greek poet
Poets that lasting marble seek Must come in Latin or in Greek.