I Do Not Love Thee For That Fair
by Thomas Carew
English Cavalier poet. His longest poem is 'A Rapture', which effectively combines wit and eroticism. His famous Elegy for John Donne was included in the first edition of Donne's Poems in 1633. He also wrote many lyrics and a masque, Coelum Britannicum (1634). Other Cavalier poets include Sir John Suckling, Robert Herrick and Richard Lovelace.
I Do Not Love Thee For That Fair
by Thomas Carew
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I do not love thee for that fair
Rich fan of thy most curious hair;
Though the wires thereof be drawn
Finer than threads of lawn,
And are softer than the leaves
On which the subtle spider weaves. I do not love thee for those flowers
Growing on thy cheeks, love's bowers;
Though such cunning them hath spread,
None can paint them white and red:
Love's golden arrows thence are shot,
Yet for them I love thee not. I do not love thee for those soft
Red coral lips I've kissed so oft,
Nor teeth of pearl, the double guard
To speech whence music still is heard;
Though from those lips a kiss being taken
Mighty tyrants melt, and death awaken. I do not love thee, O my fairest,
For that richest, for that rarest
Silver pillar, which stands under
Thy sound head, that globe of wonder;
Though that neck be whiter far
Than towers of polished ivory are.
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