Roads to Safe Places

The Sun Rising

Through windows, and through curtains, call on us ?
Must to thy motions lovers' seasons run ?
Love, all alike, no season knows nor clime,
Nor hours, days, months, which are the rags of time.

I could eclipse and cloud them with a wink,
But that I would not lose her sight so long.
Whether both th' Indias of spice and mine
Be where thou left'st them, or lie here with me.
Ask for those kings whom thou saw'st yesterday,
And thou shalt hear, "All here in one bed lay."

Princes do but play us ; compared to this,
All honour's mimic, all wealth alchemy.
Thine age asks ease, and since thy duties be
To warm the world, that's done in warming us.
Shine here to us, and thou art everywhere ;
This bed thy center is, these walls thy sphere.

- John Donne

( Translation )

To His Mistress Going to Bed

Come, madam, come, all rest my powers defy ;
Until I labour, I in labour lie.
The foe ofttimes, having the foe in sight,
Is tired with standing, though he never fight.
Off with that girdle, like heaven's zone glittering,
But a far fairer world encompassing.
Unpin that spangled breast-plate, which you wear,
That th' eyes of busy fools may be stopp'd there.
Unlace yourself, for that harmonious chime
Tells me from you that now it is bed-time.
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