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Classic poem

Sonnet LXII: When First I Ended

by Michael Drayton

When first I ended, then I first began,

The more I travell'd, further from my rest,

Where most I lost, there most of all I wan,

Pined with hunger rising from a feast.

Methinks I fly, yet want I legs to go,

Wise in conceit, in act a very sot,

Ravish'd with joy amid a hell of woe;

What most I seem, that surest am I not.

I build my hopes a world above the sky,

Yet with the mole I creep into the earth;

In plenty I am starv'd with penury,

And yet I surfeit in the greatest dearth.

I have, I want, despair and yet desire,

Burn'd in a sea of ice and drown'd amidst a fire.

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Public domain/Source

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