Common

Too much noise, too much misery;

    Fake beauty, false flattery;

Feigned tears, faint hearts;

    Mock presents, dainty pasts.

Too much singing, too much song;

    Far too empty, too wrong.

 

Too regular, too feminine;

    Too much constancy seen.

Too insincere, too blind;

    Too raucous to one’s mind.

Unhearing, unloving;

    Unknowing, unseeing.

 

Inconsistent, ravaged, savage;

    Not aware of youth and age.

Not knowing sins are fatal;

    Not knowing worlds call chaos.

Not seeing lives are mortal;

    Not seeing value, nor loss.

 

Too defined, too thin, too fair;

    No curious touch nor flair;

Not jubilant, nor merciful;

    Not knowing arts are plentiful.

Not voice, nor titles, nor vice;

    Not pictures, nor pride, nor lies.

 

Too soothing, too tedious;

    Too apparent, too obvious;

Too gracious, too grainless;

    Not an emblem of happiness;

Not distinctive, nor charming;

    Not distinguished, nor loving.

 

Too engaged, too dim, too forgetful;

    Too separate, too disgraceful;

Too priceless, too sensuous;

    No realness is to them, wondrous;

Too unbecoming, too wishful;

    Too known, too gay, too sinful.

 

Too delighted, but evil to me;

    Those boasting beauties of thee;

I am not part, nor flesh of thine;

    I live with the voice in my mind;

I love in silence, in seclusion;

    Only mirth salves my delusion;

 

Too sparkling, but mean still;

   Unknowing towards those I feel;

I cannot be, nor shall I be;

   I shall not place my soul in thee;

Thy voice remaineth loved still;

   But to love thee, I never will.