Tuesday, June 11, 2013
Be Thine Own Home
John Donne (1572-1631), "To Sir Henry Wotton," lines 47-58:
Nikolaus Reusner (1545-1602), Aureola Emblemata (Strassburg: B. Jobin, 1587), no. LVII (click to enlarge):
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Be thou then thine owne home, and in thy selfe dwell;49 Inne: "lodge, find lodging, sojourn" (Oxford English Dictionary, s.v. inn, v., sense 2.a)
Inne any where, continuance maketh hell.
And seeing the snaile, which every where doth rome,
Carrying his owne house still, still is at home,
Follow (for he is easie pac'd) this snaile,
Bee thine owne Palace, or the world's thy gaole.
And in the worlds sea, do not like corke sleepe
Upon the waters face; nor in the deepe
Sinke like a lead without a line; but as
Fishes glide, leaving no print where they passe,
Nor making sound; so closely thy course goe,
Let men dispute, whether thou breathe or no.
Nikolaus Reusner (1545-1602), Aureola Emblemata (Strassburg: B. Jobin, 1587), no. LVII (click to enlarge):
