THE PHOENIX AND THE TURTLE L ET the bird of loudest lay, On the sole Arabian tree, Herald sad and trumpet be, To whose sound chaste wings obey. But thou shrieking harbinger, Foul precurrer of the fiend, Augur of the fever's end, To this troop come thou not near! From this session interdict Every fowl of tyrant wing, Keep the obsequy so strict. Let the priest in surplice white That defunctive music can, Lest the requiem lack his right. And thou treble-dated crow, Here the anthem doth commence : In a mutual flame from hence. So they loved, as love in twain Hearts remote, yet not asunder; Distance, and no space was seen 'Twixt the turtle and his queen : But in them it were a wonder. So between them love did shine, That the turtle saw his right Flaming in the phoenix' sight; Either was the other's mine. Property was thus appall'd, Single nature's double name Neither two nor one was call'd. Reason, in itself confounded, That it cried, How true a twain Seemeth this concordant one! Love hath reason, reason none, If what parts can so remain. Whereupon it made this threne To the phoenix and the dove Co-supremes and stars of love, As chorus to their tragic scene, THRENOS Beauty, truth, and rarity, Grace in all simplicity, Here enclosed in cinders lie. Death is now the phoenix' nest; To eternity doth rest, Leaving no posterity: Truth may seem, but cannot be ; Beauty brag, but 'tis not she; Truth and beauty buried be. To this urn let those repair That are either true or fair; For these dead birds sigh a prayer. |