Great Regulars: Something is unsaid, something withheld.

And this withholding seems to be the guarantee that, while the poet's public duty is to "weepe in numbers", it's the "thoughts that lie too deep for tears" which make those numbers add up to a poem. That final "bright soule" is much more evocative than the "deare Sainte" which is its earlier parallel, and signifies the heightened awareness to which the mourner's inner journey has brought her.

[by Katherine Philips]

In memory of FP who dyed at Acton 24 May 1660--13th of her age

from Carol Rumens: The Guardian: Poem of the week: In memory of FP by Katherine Philips

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