Page:Miscellaneous Poems - Marvell (1681).djvu/87

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Miscellanies.
81
XVIII.
'And (for I dare not quench the Fire
'That me does for your good inspire)
''Twere Sacriledge a Mant t'admit
'To holy things, for Heaven fit.
'I see the Angels in a Crown
'On you the Lillies show'ring down:
'And round about you Glory breaks,
'That something more then humane speaks.

XIX.
'All Beauty, when at such a height,
'Is so already consecrate.
'Fairfax I know; and long ere this
'Have mark'd the Youth, and what he is.
'But can he such a Rival seem
'For whom you Heav'n should disesteem?
'Ah, no! and 'twould more Honour prove
'He your Devoto were, then Love.

XX.
'Here live beloved, and obey'd:
'Each one your Sister, each your Maid.
'And, if our Rule seem strictly pend,
'The Rule it self to you shall bend.
'Our Abbess too, now far in Age,
'Doth your succession near presage.
'How soft the yoke on us would lye,
'Might such fair Hands as yours it tye!

XXI.
'Your voice, the sweetest of the Quire,
'Shall draw Heav'n nearer, raise us higher.
'And your Example, if our Head,
'Will soon us to perfection lead.

'Those

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