The Thursday Poem

Potted Flowers with Books IV
Eric Barjot

From The Triumph of Charis

Have you seen but a bright lily grow,

Before rude hands have touched it?

Ha' you marked but the fall o' the snow

Before the soil hath smutched it?

Ha' you felt the wool o' the beaver?

Or swan's down ever?

Or have smelt o' the bud o' the briar?

Or the nard in the fire?

Or have tasted the bag o' the bee?

O so white, O so soft, O so sweet is she!

Ben Johnson

(probably 11th June 1572 - 6th August 1637)