Edmund Waller

The lark that shuns on lofty boughs to build, Her humble nest, lies silent in the field.

Could we forbear dispute, and practise love,_x000D_ _x000D_ We should agree as angels do above.

All human things Of dearest value hang on slender strings.

The chain that's fixed to the throne of Jove, On which the fabric of our world depends, One link dissolved, the whole creation ends.

The soul's dark cottage, batter'd and decay'd, Lets in new light through chinks that Time has made. Stronger by weakness, wiser men become As they draw near to their eternal home: Leaving the old, both worlds at once they view That stand upon the threshold of the new.

Music so softens and disarms the mind That not an arrow does resistance find.

Vexed sailors cursed the rain, for which poor shepherds prayed in vain.