Poems by Matthew Prior

All Poems Original Poems Translations

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A Dutch Proverb

Fire, Water, Woman, are Man's Ruin;

Says wise Professor Vander Bruin.

By Flames a House I hir'd was lost

Last Year: and I must pay the Cost.

This Spring the Rains o'erflow'd my Ground:

And my best Flanders Mare was drown'd.

A Slave I am to Clara's Eyes:

The Gipsey knows her Pow'r, and flies.

by Matthew Prior

An Ode - Inscribed To The Memory Of The Hon Colonel George Villiers

Say, dearest Villiers, poor departed friend,

(Since fleeting life thus suddenly must end)

Say, what did all thy busy hopes avail,

That anxious thou from pole to pole didst sail,

Ere on thy chin the springing beard began

To spread a doubtful down and promise man?

What profited thy thoughts, and toils, and cares

In vigour more confirmed and riper years,

by Matthew Prior

A Song In Vain You Tell Your Parting Lover

In vain you tell your parting lover

You wish fair winds may waft him over

Alas! what winds can happy prove

That bear me far from what I love?

Alas! what dangers on the main

Can equal those that I sustain

From slighted vows and cold disdain?

Be gentle, and in pity choose

by Matthew Prior

An Ode : On Exodus iii 14

On Exodus iii. 14. "I am that I am."

Man! foolish man!

Scarce know'st thou how thyself began,

Scarce hadst thou thought enough to prove thou art,

Yet, steel'd with studied boldness, thou darest try

To send thy doubting Reason's dazzled eye

Through the mysterious gulf of vast immensity;

Much thou canst there discern, much thence impart.

by Matthew Prior

An Ode To A Lady She Refusing To Continue A Dispute With Me, And Leaving Me In The Argument

Spare, generous victor, spare the slave,

Who did unequal war pursue;

That more than triumph he might have,

In being overcome by you.

In the dispute, whate'er I said,

My heart was by my tongue belied;

And in my looks you might have read

How much I argued on your side.

by Matthew Prior

Solomon on the Vanity of the World, A Poem In Three Books - Knowledge Book I

The bewailing of man's miseries hath been elegantly and copiously set forth by many, in the writings as well of philosophers as divines; and it is both a pleasant and a profitable contemplation.

Lord Bacon's Advancement of Learning.

The Argument

Solomon, seeking happiness from knowledge, convenes the learned men of his kingdom; requires them to explain to him the various operations and effects of Nature; discourses of vegetables, animals and man; proposes some questions concerning the origin and situation of the habitable earth: proceeds to examine the system of the visible heaven: doubts if there may not be a plurality of worlds; inquires into the nature of spirits and angels, and wishes to be more fully informed as to the attributes of the Supreme Being. He is imperfectly answered by the Rabbins and Doctors; blames his own curiosity: and concludes that, as to human science, All Is Vanity.