Edmund Waller
Edmund Waller
Edmund Waller, FRSwas an English poet and politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1624 and 1679. He was educated at Eton and King's College, Cambridge. He entered Parliament early and was at first an active member of the opposition. In 1631 he married a London heiress who died in 1634. Later he became a Royalist, and in 1643 was leader in a plot to seize London for Charles I. For this he was imprisoned,...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionPoet
Date of Birth3 March 1606
angel doors practice
Could we forbear dispute, and practice love,We should agree as angels do above.Where love presides, not vice alone does findNo entrance there, hut virtues stay behind:Both faith, and hope, and all the meaner trainOf mortal virtues, at the door remain.Love only enters as a native there,For born in heav'n, it does but sojourn here.
wisdom book practice
With wisdom fraught; not such as books, but such as practice taught.
wise fall practice
He that alone would wise and mighty be,Commands that others love as well as he.Love as he lov'd! - How can we soar so high?-He can add wings when he commands to fly.Nor should we be with this command dismay'd;He that examples gives will give his aid:For he took flesh, that where his precepts fall,His practice, as a pattern, may prevail.
men stronger weakness
Stronger by weakness, wiser men become.
song
Soft words, with nothing in them, make a song.
envy long together
Poets may boast (as safely-vain) Their work shall with the world remain: Both bound together, live, or die, The verses and the prophecy. But who can hope his lines shou'd long Last, in a daily changing tongue? While they are new, envy prevails, And as that dies, our language fails.
good-night lying light
Since thou wouldst needs, bewitched with some ill charms, Be buried in those monumental arms: As we can wish, is, may that earth lie light Upon thy tender limbs, and so good night.
distance eye light
The rising sun complies with our weak sight, First gilds the clouds, then shows his globe of light At such a distance from our eyes, as though He knew what harm his hasty beams would do.
artist play knowing
In other things the knowing artist may Judge better than the people; but a play, (Made for delight, and for no other use) If you approve it not, has no excuse.
light suffering retired
Small is the worth Of beauty from the light retired: Bid her come forth, Suffer herself to be desired, And not blush so to be admired.
grief moving circles
My joy, my grief, my hope, my love, Did all within this circle move!
may pay satire
Lampoons, like squibs, may make a present blaze; but time and thunder pay respect to bays.
circles rounds
Circle are praised, not that abound, In largeness, but the exactly round.
soul guests doe
And as pale sickness does invade, Your frailer part, the breaches made, In that fair lodging still more clear, Make the bright guest, your soul, appear.