The Works of Abraham Cowley/Volume 2/Coldness
COLDNESS.
As water fluid is, till it do growSolid and fixt by cold;So in warm seasons Love does loosely flow;Frost only can it hold:A woman's rigour, and disdain,Does his swift course restrain.
Though constant and consistent now it be,Yet, when kind beams appear,It melts, and glides apace into the sea,And loses itself there.So the sun's amorous playKisses the ice away.
You may in vulgar loves find always this;But my substantial loveOf a more firm and perfect nature is;No weathers can it move:Though heat dissolve the ice again,The crystal solid does remain.