Page:Works of Sir John Suckling.djvu/87

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67

Εἰ δὲ δεῖ παθεῖν15
Ἅ δεῖ μαθεῖν,
Τὶ δεῖ μαθεῖν;
Χρῆ γὰρ παθεῖν·

Scire si liceret quæ debes subire,
Et non subire, pulchrum est scire:20
Sed si subire debes quæ debes scire,
Quorsum vis scire? nam debes subire.

Englished thus

If man might know

The ill he must undergo,
And shun it so,
Then it were good to know:
But, if he undergo it,5
Though he know it,
What boots him know it?
He must undergo it.

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When, dearest, I but think of thee,
Methinks all things that lovely be
Are present, and my soul delighted:
For beauties that from worth arise
Are like the grace of deities,5
Still present with us, though unsighted.

Thus whilst I sit, and sigh the day
With all his borrowed lights away,
Till night's black wings do overtake me,
Thinking on thee, thy beauties then,10
As sudden lights do sleeping men,
So they, by their bright rays awake me.

Thus absence dies, and dying proves
No absence can subsist with loves
That do partake of fair perfection;15
Since in the darkest night they may
By love's quick motion find a way
To see each other by reflection.