The Works of Abraham Cowley/Volume 2/The Frailty
THE FRAILTY.
I know ’tis sordid and ’tis low
(All this as well as you I know)
Which I so hotly now pursue
(I know all this as well as you);
But, whilst this cursed flesh I bear,
And all the weakness and the baseness there,
Alas! alas! it will be always so.
(All this as well as you I know)
Which I so hotly now pursue
(I know all this as well as you);
But, whilst this cursed flesh I bear,
And all the weakness and the baseness there,
Alas! alas! it will be always so.
In vain, exceedingly in vain,
I rage sometimes, and bite my chain;
Yet to what purpose do I bite
With teeth which ne'er will break it quite?
For, if the chiefest Christian Head
Was by this sturdy tyrant buffeted,
What wonder is it if weak I be slain?
I rage sometimes, and bite my chain;
Yet to what purpose do I bite
With teeth which ne'er will break it quite?
For, if the chiefest Christian Head
Was by this sturdy tyrant buffeted,
What wonder is it if weak I be slain?