The Dissolution
- She 's dead; and all which die
- To their first elements resolve;
- And we were mutual elements to us,
- And made of one another.
- My body then doth hers involve,
- And those things whereof I consist hereby
- In me abundant grow, and burdenous,
- And nourish not, but smother.
- My fire of passion, sighs of air,
- Water of tears, and earthly sad despair,
- Which my materials be,
- But near worn out by love's security,
- She, to my loss, doth by her death repair,
- And I might live long wretched so
- But that my fire doth with my fuel grow.
- Now as those Active Kings
- Whose foreign conquest treasure brings,
- Receive more, and spend more, and soonest break:
- This (which I am amazed that I can speak)
- This death hath with my store
- My use increased.
- And so my soul more earnestly released
- Will outstrip hers; as bullets flown before
- A latter bullet may o'ertake, the powder being more.
From: Songs and Sonnets, 1633.
- --oOo-- -