The Works of Abraham Cowley/Volume 2/Verses lost upon a Wager
VERSES LOST UPON A WAGER.
As soon hereafter will I wagers lay'Gainst what an oracle shall say;Fool that I was, to venture to denyA tongue so us'd to victory!A tongue so blest by nature and by art,That never yet it spoke but gain'd an heart:Though what you said had not been true,If spoke by any else but you;Your speech will govern destiny,And Fate will change rather than you should lye.
’Tis true, if human Reason were the guide,Reason, methinks, was on my side; But that 's a guide, alas! we must resign,When th' authority's divine.She said, she said herself it would be so;And I, bold unbeliever! answer'd no:Never so justly, sure, before,Error the name of blindness bore;For, whatsoe'er the question be,There's no man that has eyes would bet for me.
If Truth itself (as other angels doWhen they descend to human view)In a material form would deign to shine,'T would imitate or borrow thine:So dazzling bright, yet so transparent clear,So well-proportion'd, would the parts appear!Happy the eye which Truth could seeCloth'd in a shape like thee;But happier far the eyeWhich could thy shape naked like Truth espy!
Yet this lost wager costs me nothing moreThan what I ow'd to thee before:Who would not venture for that debt to play,Which he were bound howe'er to pay?If Nature gave me power to write in verse,She gave it me thy praises to rehearse:Thy wondrous beauty and thy witHas such a sovereign right to it,That no man's Muse for publick vent is free,Till she has paid her customs first to thee.