The Good-morrow
I wonder by my troth, what thou and I
Did, till we lov'd? Were we not wean'd till then,
But suck'd on country pleasures, childishly?
Or snorted we in the seven sleepers' den?
'Twas so; but this, all pleasures fancies be.
If ever any beauty I did see,
Which I desir'd, and got, 'twas but a dream of thee.
And now good morrow to our waking souls,
Which watch not one another out of fear;
For love, all love of other sights controls,
And makes one little room, an everywhere.
Let sea-discoverers to new worlds have gone,
Let maps to other, worlds on worlds have shown,
Let us possess one world, each hath one, and is one.
My face in thine eye, thine in mine appears,
And true plain hearts do in the faces rest;
Where can we find two better hemispheres,
Without sharp north, without declining west?
Whatever dies, was not mix'd equally;
If our two loves be one, or, thou and I
Love so alike, that none do slacken, none can die.
-- John Donne (1572-1631)
Question : what does "the seven sleepers' den" mean ?
Thx very much
The seven sleepers were an early version of Rip van Winkle. They were early Christians who went to hide in a cave to avoid persecution , fell asleep and woke up many years later when the empire had been converted. They may be known as the seven sleepers of Ephesus.
"They were given some time to recant their faith; they gave their worldly goods to the poor"
[ ... ]
"One of their number returns to Ephesus. He is astounded to find buildings with crosses attached; people he deals with are astounded to find a man trying to spend old coins from the reign of Decius."
Tsk. Apparently they did not give ALL their worldly goods to the poor.
Probably someone with a lot o money hanging around wrote it, like the stained glass window showing a camel jumping through the needles eye with ease
Post Edited (10-03-04 17:31)
They in fact slept 187 years!!
No, not in fact, nuh-uh.