Samuel Daniel
Are
they shadows that we see?
And
can shadows pleasure give?
Pleasures
only shadows be
Cast
by bodies we conceive,
And are made the things
we deem,
In those figures which
they seem.
But
these pleasures vanish fast,
Which
by shadows are expressed:
Pleasures
are not, if they last;
In
their passing is their best.
Glory is most bright
and gay
In a flash, and so
away.
Feed
apace then greedy eyes
On
the wonder you behold.
Take
it sudden as it flies,
Though
you take it not to hold;
When your eyes have
done their part,
Thought must length it
in the heart.
(1610)