Read "O! Might those Sighs and Tears Return Again" by John Donne online for free on Textopian. Full text with search, annotations, highlights, and AI-powered reading aids.
O! might those sighs and tears return again / Into my breast and eyes, which I have spent, / That I might in this holy discontent / Mourn with some fruit, as I have mourn'd in vain. / In mine idolatry what showers of rain / Mine eyes did waste? what griefs my heart did rent? / That sufferance was my sin, I now repent; / 'Cause I did suffer, I must suffer pain. / Th' hydroptic drunkard, and night-scouting thief, / The itchy lecher, and self-tickling proud / Have the remembrance of past joys, for relief / Of coming ills. To poor me is allow'd / No ease; for long, yet vehement grief hath been / Th' effect and cause, the punishment and sin.