Say, lovely dream, where couldst thou find <br />Shadows to counterfeit that face? <br />Colors of this glorious kind <br />Come not from any mortal place. <br /> <br />In heaven itself thou sure wert drest <br />With that angel-like disguise; <br />Thus deluded am I blest, <br />And see my joy with closed eyes. <br /> <br />But, ah, this image is too kind <br />To be other than a dream! <br />Cruel Sacharissa's mind <br />Never put on that sweet extreme. <br /> <br />Fair dream, if thou intend'st me grace, <br />Change that heavenly face of thine; <br />Paint despised love in thy face, <br />And make it to appear like mine. <br /> <br />Pale, wan, and meager let it look, <br />With a pity-moving shape, <br />Such as wander by the brook <br />Of Lethe, or from graves escape. <br /> <br />Then to that matchless nymph appear, <br />In whose shape thou shinest so, <br />Softly in her sleeping ear, <br />With humble words express my woe. <br /> <br />Perhaps from greatness, state, and pride, <br />Thus surprised she may fall: <br />Sleep does disproportion hide, <br />And, death resembling, equals all.<br /><br />Edmund Waller<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/song-say-lovely-dream/
