A Dialogue Between the Soul and Body

Body, O body, in which I breathe,
A world of somewhat; you of dust and clay;
A little while I cumber the earth’s way,
And shall I straight return to death and thee?

Soul, O soul, I mean not thee to grieve,
Since for thy sake I needs must have thy mate.
This mind of mine, which is of such estate,
Is but a shadow; yet didst thou believe.

Body, the night is caper’d with shut doors,
And day hath ruin’d the day’s wrongs by sleep;
Rage not, but rather hold the calm we keep;
Since when we part, none but thine own it roars.

Soul, I will not ask but that thou know
I am thy death’s delight, and do thee grace;
Here, with full heart, I sit before this place;
How harsh the sky, and how the winds do blow!

Body, what palsies reason and my rest —
Kiss me, and let me lose myself such ground
As tends unto thy good; for to confound
That rest away in pleasures towards thy best.

• John Davies