In vain to catch the fleeting shade he sought She too in vain bent backwards to be caught Gods what tumultuous raging passions toss't His anxious Heart when he perceiv'd her lost How wildly did his dreadful Eye-balls roul How did all Hell at once oppress his Soul To what sad height was his distraction grown How deep his just despair how near my own In vain with her he labour'd to return All he could do was to fit down and mourn In vain but ne'er before in vain he sings At once the saddest and the sweetest things Stay dear Euridice he crys ah stay Why fleets the lovely shade so sast away Why am not I permitted to pursue Why will not rig'rous Hell receive me too Already has she reach'd the farther shoar And I alas allow'd to pass no more Imprison'd closer in the dismal coast She 's now for ever ever ever lost No Charms a second time can set her free Hell has her now again would Hell had me From all his pains let Titius be releas'd And in his stead unhappyer Orpheus plac'd He feels no torture I le refuse to bear Her loss is worse than all he suffers there Is this your Bounty then ye Powers below And these the short-liv'd Blessings you bestow Why did you such a cruel Covenant make Which you but too well knew I needs must break Ah! by this Artifice too late I sind Your envious nature never was inclin'd To be intirely good or throughly kind Had you persisted to resuse the grant I should not then have known the double want This was contriv'd by some malicious power To swell my Woes and make my Mis'ries more Plung'd in despair far deeper than at first And blest a short short while to be for ever curs't Ah! yet again relent again restore My wretched Bride be bounteous as before Ah! let the force of Verse as powerful be O're you as was the force of Love o're me And the dear forfeit once again resign Which but for too much Love had still been mine By that immense and awful sway you bear That silent horror that inhabits here By these vast Realms and that unquestion'd right By which you rule this Everlasting Night By these my Tears and prayers which once could move Once more I beg you to release my Love Let her a little while with me remain A little while and she is yours again The date of mortal Life is finish'd soon Swift is the Race and short the time to run Inevitable Fate your Night secures And she and I and all at last are yours So sung the charming Youth in such a strain But sung and charm'd the second time in vain No longer could he move the Powers below Lost were his Numbers then as mine are now Torn with despair he leaves the Stygian Lakes And back to light a loathsom Journy takes No Light could chear him in his cruel woes Who bears about his Grief where'ere he goes In sacred Verse his sad complaints he vents And all the Day and all the Night laments Incessantly he sings whose moving Song Draws Trees and Stones and listning Herds along The Sylvan Gods and Wood-Nymphs stood around And melting Maids were ravish'd at the sound All heard the wondrous Notes and all that heard With utmost Art addrest the mournful Bard. Not all their Charms his Constancy could move Who sled the thoughts of any second Love When mad to see him slight their raging Fire To Mortal hate converting fierce desire With their own Hands they made the Youth expire Such proofs my Delia would I gladly give For thee I 'de dye without thee will not live I 've felt already the severest smart Death can inflict for it was death to part The Parting What Souls about to leave their Bodies bear Forc'd to forsake their long-lov'd Mansions there The dying anguish the convulsive pain And all the racking tortures they sustain And most of all the doubt the dreadful fear When thrust out thence to go they know not where My Soul such pangs such sad distractions knew Forc'd by despairing Love to part with you Fix'd on that Face where I could ever dwell Charm'd into silence by some Magick Spell I sigh'd and shook and could not say fare well Down my sad Cheeks did Tears in torrents roll And Deaths cold damp sate heavy on my Soul My trembling Eyes swam in a native Flood As fast as they wept Tears my Heart wept Blood All signs of desperate grief possess 't my face My sinking Feet seem'd rooted to their place And scarce could bear me to the last embrace Gods where was then my Soul that parting kiss Was both the last and dearest Taste of Bliss Ah! since that fatal time I could not boast Of Love or Life or Soul all all is lost VVhen the last Moment that I had to stay Call'd me like one condemn'd to Death away VVith staggering Steps I did my Path pursue Yet ost I tarn'd to take another view Oft gaâ—'d and sigh'd and murmur'd out adieu THE PARTING OF Achilles and Deidamia A Chilles had a long time lain disguis'd like a Woman in the Court of Nicomedes King of Bythinia making use of that Habit the better to carry on his Amours with Deidamia Nicomedes's Daughter but he was at last discovered by the Subtilty of Ulysses who putting a Sword into his hands which he wielded too dexterously for a Woman so betray'd him and carryed him to the Trojan War the Greeks having been warn'd by the Oracle that Troy should never be taken unless Achilles assisted at the Siege THUS young Achilles in Bythinia's Court Had made a private and a long resort Dress't like a Maid the better to improve With his fair Princess undiscover'd Love Where Hours and Days he might secure receive The mighty Bliss that mutual Love could give Where in full Joys the Youthful Pair remain'd And nought a while but Laughing Pleasures reign'd Till at the last the Gods were envious grown To see the Bliss of Man surpass their own All Greece was now with Helen's Rape alarm'd And all its Princes to revenge her arm'd When spiteful Powers foretold them their descent Would be in vain unless Achilles went In vain they might the Phrygian Coasts invade Scale Troy in vain no on-set could be made That should succeed without that Hero's aid And now Ulysses by a crafty slight Had found him out in his Disguises spight Who tho' betray'd by his unhappy Fate Had too much sense of Honour to retreat Which when his charming Deidamia knew She to her late Discover'd I over flew On his dear Neck her Snowy Arms she hung And streaming Tears a while restrain'd her Tongue But at the last her dismal Silence broke These mournful words the weeping Princess spoke Whither ah whither would Achilles slee From all he 's dearest to from love and me Are not my Charms the same the same their power Have I lost mine or has Bellona more Oh! let me not so poorly be forsook But
ye Hills and Dales and Neighbouring Groves You that are conscious of so many Loves Say have you ever seen a Lover pine Like me or ever know a Love like mine I know not whence this suddain Flame should come I like and see but see I know not whom What grieves me more no Rocks nor rouling Seas No strong-wall'd Cities nor untrodden Ways Only a slender Silver Stream destroys And casts the Bar between our sundred Joys Even he too seems to â—â—el an equal Flame The same his Passion hâ—s desires the same As oft as I my long 〈…〉 ps decline To joyn with his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to meet with mine So near our Faces and our Mouths approach That almost to our selves we seem to touch Come forth who e'r thou art and do not fly From one so passionately fond as I I 've nothing to deserve your just disdain But have been lov'd as I love you in vain Yet all the signs of mutual Love you give And my poor hopes in all your Actions live When in the Stream our Hands I strive to joyn Yours straight ascend and half-way grasp at mine You Smile my Smiles when I a Tear let fall You shed another and consent in all And when I speak your lovely Lips appear To utter something which I cannot hear Alas 't is I my self too late I see My own deceitful Shade has ruin'd me With a mad Passion for my self I 'm curs't And bear about those Flames I kindled first In so perplex'd a Case what can I do Ask or be ask'd shall I be woo'd or wooe All that I wish I have what would I more Ah! t is my too great plenty makes me poor Divide me from my self ye Powers Divine Nor let his Being intermix with mine All that I love and wish for now retake A strange Request for one in Love to make I feel my strength decay with inward Grief And hope to lose my Sorrows with my Life Nor would I mourn my own untimely Fate Were he I love allow'd a longer Date This makes me at my cruel Stars repine That his much dearer Life must end with mine This said again he turns his watry Face And gazes wildly in the Crystal Glass While streaming Tears from his full Eye-lids fell And drop by drop rais'd Circles in the Well The several Rings larger and larger spread And by degrees dispers'd the fleeting shade Which when perceiv'd Oh whither would you go He crys ah whither whither fly you now Stay lovely Shade do not so cruel prove In leaving me who to distraction Love Let me still see what ne'r can be possess 't And with the sight alone my Frenzy feast Now frantick with his Grief his Robe he tears And Tokens of his Rage his Bosom bears The cruel Wounds on his pure Body show Like Crimson mingling with the whitest Snow Like Apples with Vermilion-circles stripe Or a fair Bunch of Grapes not fully ripe But when he looks and sees the Wounds he made Writ on the Bosom of the charming Shade His Sorrow would admit of no Relief But all his Sense was swallow'd in his Grief As Wax near any kindled Fuel plac'd Melts and is sensibly perceiv'd to waste As Morning Frosts are found to Thaw away When once the Sun begins to warm the day So the fond Youth dissolves in hopeless Fires And by degrees Consumes in vain desires His lovely Cheeks now lost their white and red Diminish'd was his Strength his Beauty fled His Body from it's just Proportions fell Which the scorn'd Eccho lately lov'd so well Yet tho' her first resentments she retain'd And still remembred how she was disdain'd She sigh'd and when the wretched Lover cry'd Alas alas the woful Nymph reply'd Then when with cruel Blows his Hands would wound His tender Breast she still restor'd the sound Now hanging o'er the Spring his drooping Head With a sad sigh these dying words he said Ah! Boy belov'd in vain thro' all the Plain ECCHO resounds Ah! Boy belov'd in vain Farewel he crys and with that Word he dy'd Farewel the miserable Nymph reply'd Now pale and breathless on the Grass he lyes For Death had shut his self-admiring Eyes Now wafted over to the Stygian Coast The Waters there reflect his wandring Ghost In loud laments his weeping Sisters mourn VVhich Eccho makes the Neighb'ring Hills return All signs of desperate Grief the Nymphs express Great is the Moan yet is not Eccho's less THE STORY OF Salmacis and Hermaphroditus From the Fourth Book OF OVID's METAMORPHOSES THE lovely Salmacis the Fountain own'd ' A Nymph with every blooming Beauty crown'd Unpractis'd in the Chase untaught to throw The thrilling Dart or bend the stubborn Bow Never engag'd in Races on the Plain Nor ever mingling with Diana's Train Oft would her Sisters say rise rise for shame And joyn with us in some laborious Game Seize on a Quiver or a pointed Spear Hunt the wild Boar or chase the tim'rous Deer No Quiver would she feize no Javelin shake No Toyl indure in no Fatigue partake But in her Fountain is her sole delight For there she Bathes by day and Rests by night Still in that liquid Glass her self she dress't And learn'd from thence what look became her best Now in thin Lawn her lovely Limbs aray'd Stretch'd at their length on the sost Moss were laid Thro' the transparent Robes to the full view display'd Now languishing she lyes and gathers Flowers Pluck'd from the blooming sides of Neighb'ring Bowers Thus was she busied when she chanc'd to spy The lovely Son of Hermes passing by At the first sight she found her Wishes fir'd And the fair Youth as soon as seen desir'd Yet would she not approach tho' mad to meet Tho' she could scarce hold back her eager Feet Till she might first her utmost skill bestow To make her Beauties to advantage show Use all her Art to let her Charms appear Who without Art might well be reckon'd fair At last attir'd she comes at once she breaks Into these moving words and meltingly she speaks Such charms dear Youth dwell in your lovely I cannot think you born of Humane Race Face If then a God descended from above You are not sure less than the God of Love But if you spring not from a Race divine If come from any of a mortal Line Happy thrice happy must thy Parents be And all thy Kindred bless't and proud of thee Blest were that Womans Breasts who fed thee first In whose fond Arms thy Infancy was Nurss't But more Oh! infinitely more than all the rest Must the fair Partner of thy Bed be bles't If there be such let us the Bliss divide Too great to be by any one enjoy'd If not already bound by Nuptial Vows Seal them with me make me the joyful Spouse ness made Here stop'd the Love-sick Nymph whose bold The bashful Youth blush for the things she said Still Lovelier in his Blushes look'd the Boy Still her desires grew fiercer to enâ—y So blushes Fruit upon
better Fate Thro' doubts and fears desires and wishes toss't Undaunted they must strain to reach the coast All will a while look hideous to their eye The threatning storm still thickning in the Sky No sight of Land no friendly Harbour nigh Yet thro' all this the vent'rous Lover steers To reap the Golden Crop that Beauty bears So the bold Mariners the Seas explore Tho' Winds blow hard and Waves like Thunder roar Rather than live in Poverty on Shoar Embolden'd thus let every Youth set Sail And trust to Fortune for a prosperous gale Let them launch boldly from the lazy Shore Nor fear a Storm which will at last blow o're Set all the Reins to all their Passions free Give Wings to their Desires and love like me Happy that Youth who when his Stars incline His Soul to Love can make a choice like mine Admiration Thee Delia all that see thee must admire And mankind in its own despight desire As a Blind Man restor'd to suddain Sight Starts in a-maze at the first flash of Light So was I struck such suddain wonder knew When my eyes dazel'd with the sight of you I saw whatever could enflame desire Parch up the Veins and set the Blood on fire From every Charm the pointed Lightning came And fast as they dispers'd I caught the Flame Like Stars your glittering eyes were seen to shine And roll with motions that were all divine Where Majesty and softness mingled meet And shew a Soul at once sublime and sweet I gaz'd and as I gaz'd from every view New Wonders I descryed new Passion drew Nor were the Charms less powerful of your Tongue My ravish'd Soul on every accent hung Glow'd when you spoke and melted when you Sung Those Lips unopen'd cannot fail to move But Silently are eloquent in Love That Face and Neck those Shoulders Hands and Arms Each Limb each Feature has peculiar Charms Each of it self might singly win a Soul And never need th' assistance of the whole On this one Part a Poets praise might dwell Did not this other part deserve as well Beauty is surely near allyed to Wit Of which none can the just description hit By their own selves they may be shewn the best And only are in being seen exprest Beautye's true Charms no Poem can present Which but imperfectly are done in Paint That too comes short of life and only takes Faint images of those which nature makes THE STORY OF PERSEUS AND ANDROMEDA In Imitation of part of that in the Fourth Book OF OVID's METAMORPHOSES PRopitious chance led Perseus once to view The fairest Piece that ever Nature drew Chain'd on a rocky Shore the Virgin stood Naked and whiter than the foaming Flood Whom as he cours'd the confines of the Sky Amaz'd he saw and kept his wond'ring Eye So fix'd he had almost forgot to sly Had not the Winds dispers'd her flowing Hair And held it waving in the liquid Air Or had not streams of Tears apace roll'd down Her lovely Cheeks he would have thought her Stone Strait he precipitates his hasty flight Impatient to attain a nearer sight Now all at once he feels the raging Fires Sees all the Maid and all he sees admires With awe and wonder mixt with love and fear He stands as motionless as shame made her Urg'd on at last but still by slow degrees Loth to offend he draws to what he sees Oh! Why he cryes most matchless Fair-one why Are you thus us'd Can you be doom'd to dye Have you done any Guilt that guilt relate How can such Beauty merit such a Fate I am thy Champion and espouse thy Cause In thy defence the Thund'rer's Off-spring draws Say if thou' rt rescued by the Son of Jove Say for thy Life wilt thou return thy Love The bashful Virgin no return affords But sends ten thousand Sighs instead of Words With Grief redoubled with her Shame she mourns She weeps he joys she blushes and he burns In Chains extended at her length she lay While he with transport took a full survey Fain would her Hands her conscious Blushes hide But that the Fetters which they wore deny'd What could she do all that she could she did For drown'd in floods of Tears her Eyes she hid Much urg'd to speak she turn'd her bashful look Far as she could aside and trembling spoke My Mother conscious of her Beauty strove Alas too conscious with the Wife of Jove Who by a cruel and unjust Decree To punish her takes this revenge on me Here am I doom'd a dreadful Monster 's prey Who now now now is issuing from the Sea Haste generous Youth our common Foe subdue And if you save my Life I live for you Thus spoke the Maid half dying with her fears When lo the Monster from the Sea appears The dauntless Heröe mounts his flying Horse And o'r the Waves directs his airy course Let him alone his Victory pursue For dreadful War has nothing here to do This short Account will Love-sick Swains suffice He slew his Foe and strait receiv'd his Prize Thrice happy Youth too fortunately blest Who only came and conquer'd and possest None of the pangs of Love your bliss annoy'd You but beheld admir'd and so enjoy'd Desire All other Lovers longer Toils sustain Desires Hopes Jealousies an endless Train THE STORY OF PIGMALION Imitated from the Tenth Book OF OVID'S METAMORPHOSES How thou art envied let Pigmalion prove Who by a Miracle obtain'd his Love Who living in an Age when Women led The lewdest Lives all Shame and Honour fled For a long tune declin'd the Nuptial-Bed He saw them all debauch'd with monstrous Crimes No Virtuous Maid no Delia bless the Times Had she liv'd then his skill had ne'r been shown Nor the strange Miracle that crown'd it known There had he fix'd not form'd his fancy'd Maid Nor fondly been by his own Art betray'd The Nymph in polish'd Ivory glitter'd bright So smooth she seem'd too slipp'ry for his sight So curious was her shape so just her frame So quick her Eyes appear'd so full of flame They would have roll'd if not restrain'd by shame From his strange Art the Statue had receiv'd Such lively strokes one would have thought it liv'd Ev'n he himself could hardly hardly know But doubted long whether it liv'd or no. Yet from her as she was he gather'd Fires And fierce and boundless were his mad Desires He felt her Flesh his Fancy thought it such And fear'd to hurt her with too rude a touch He kiss'd her with belief so strong and vain That he imagin'd how she kiss'd again Now makes his Court his mad Addresses moves And tells a long sond tale how well he loves Presents her now with all he thought might please With precious Gums distill'd from weeping trees Small Singing Birds who strain their Tunefu Throats And hov'ring round repeat their pretty Notes With sweetest Flowers he crowns her lovely head And lays her on the softest downy Bed In richest Robes his charming Idol dress't
gives the Prize and yields her Dear-bought Charms He by resistless Gold the Conquest gain'd In vain he ran till that the Race obtain'd Possess'd of that he could not but subdue For Gold alas would conquer Delia too Yet oh thou best Belov'd thou lovelyest Maid Be not by too much Avarice betray'd Prize thy self high no easy purchase prove Nor let a Fool with Fortune buy thy Love Like Atalanta's Conquerour let him be Brave Generous Young from every failing free And to compleat him let him Love like me VVhat pains against my wretched self I take Even I my self my Jealousyes awake Such men there are blest with such Gifts Divine Who if they knew thee would be surely thine Jealousy How wretched then alas should Daphnis grow Gods how the very thought distracts him now Ev'n now perhaps some Youth with happyer Charms Lies folded in the faithless Delia's Arms. Ev'n now the Favours you denyed me seem To be too prodigally heap'd on him Close by your side all languishing he stands And on your Panting Bosom warms his Hands Strait in your Lap he lays his envyed Head And makes the Shrine of Love his Sacred Bed Then glows his Ravish'd Soul with pointed Flames And thoughts of Heav'nly Joys fill all his Dreams Let not your Passion be to me reveal'd But if you love keep him you love conceal'd THE STORY OF Cephalus and Procris Imitated from the Tenth Book OF OVID's METAMORPHOSES FRom Cephalus's Tragick Story read What fatal mischiefs Jealousy may breed Hear that unhappy wretched Huntsman tell How by his hands his much lov'd Procris fell Hear him lamenting his mischance complain In the soft Ovid's sadly charming strain Happy a while thrice happy was my Life Blest in a Beautiful and Vertuous Wife Love join'd us first and Love made Life so sweet We prais'd the Gods that 't was our lot to meet Our Breasts glow'd gently with a mutual Flame The same were our desires our fears the same Whate'r one did the other would approve For one our liking was as one our love Then happy days were crown'd with happier nights And some few months roll'd on in full delights Joys crouded to appear and pleasures ran A while in circles e're our Woes began Till I one fatal morn the Chace pursu'd Of a Wild Boar thro' an adjacent Wood. Where as I hunted eager on my Prey Aurora stop'd me in my hasty way You may believe I do not dare not feign For Mis'ry never made a Man so vain She tho' a Goddess strait began to move A fruitless suit and vainly talk'd of Love Tho' she look'd bright as when she shines on high In all the gloryes of a Morning Sky Tho' earlier than the Sun 's her beams display And show the first approaches of the day I told her Procris all my Soul possest That she alone reign'd Sovereign of my Breast Which never would admit another Guest Enjoy thy Procris then the Goddess cry'd Whom thou shalt one day wish th' hadst ne'â— enjoy'd Stung with her words with doubts and fears oppress 't A suddain Jealousy destroys my rest Mads all my Brain and Poysons all my Breast I thought the Sex all false ev'n Procris too Again I thought she could not but be true Her Youth and Beauty kindled anxious cares But her known Chastity condemn'd my fears But then my absence does again revive And keep the Tort'ring Fancy still alive I thought her Faith too firmly fixt to fall Yet a true Lover is afraid of all I knew not what to think but strait I go Resolv'd to cure or to compleat my Woe An Habit different from my own I took While with curst aid Aurora chang'd my look To Athens strait unknown by all I came â—â—'n to my self I scarce could seem the same Hardly I got admission to my House But far far harder to my weeping Spouse The House it self from ought of Blame was free And ev'ry place exprest its grief for me A dismal Silence reign'd thro' every room To mourn my loss already safe at home Ev'n that sad Pomp of Woe some Charms could boast But when my Procris came she charm'd mâ— most Black were her Robes her Solemn Pace was slow Her Dress was careless yet becoming too A vertuous Grief dwelt deeply in her Face But matchless Beauty gave that Grief a grace Whole showers of Tears her streaming eyes 〈◊〉 fall Yet something wondrous lovely shone thro' all Scarce could I at the Charming sight forbear From running to embrace my Mournful Fair Scarce hold from telling whom she saw tho' alter'd there But yet at length my sirst Design pursued With words I flatter'd and with gifts I woo'd All the most moving Arguments I us'd Oft pray'd and press't but was as oft refus'd She said another had before engross't All her affection and my Suit was lost Would any but a Mad-man farther try But ah that Mad that desperate Fool was I. I grew the more industrious to destroy Her matchless Truth and ruin all my Joy Redoubled Presents and redoubled Vows I made and offer'd to betray my Spouse At last her staggering Faith began to yield And I 'ad just won the long disputed Field Thy falshood strait I cryed too late I see False to thy Cephalus for I am He. Since you are Perjur'd since my Procris grew Forsworn and false what Woman can be true She at these words almost of Sense bereav'd With sad confusion found her self deceiv'd Fix'd on the ground she kept her down-cast eye And Silent with her Shame made no reply But to the Mountains like an Huntress hyes And for my sake from all mankind she flyes Which when I found abandon'd and alone My dearer half thro' my own Folly gone Love fiercer than before began to burn Till I was raging for my Wifes return My Prayers dispatch'd with eagerness haste That she would pardon all offences past Found her as kind as she was truly Chaste She came and crown'd my Joys a second time Forgot my Jealousy forgave my Crime 'T was then I thought my greatest Miseries o're But Fate it seems had worse far worse in store Soon as each early Sun began to rise To glad th'enlighten'd earth and gild the Skies I with his first appearance rise and trace The Woods and Hills that yielded Game to chase Alone I Hunt a long and tedious way And seldom fail to kill sufficient Prey Then spent with Toil to cooler Shades retreat And seek a Refuge from the Scorching heat Where Pleasant Valleys breath a freer Air For my refreshment I address this Prayer Come Air I cry joy of o'relabour'd Swains Come and diffuse thy self thro' all my Veins Breathe on my Burning Lips and Feverish Breast And reign at large an ever grateful Guest Glide to my Soul and every vital part Distill thy self upon my panting heart By chance I other Blandishments bestow Or Destiny decreed it should be so As O thou greatest pleasure of the Plains Thou who asswagest all my raging pains Thou
view me view me with your usual look Would you unkind from these Embraces break Is Glory grown so strong or I so weak Glory is not your only Call I fear You go to meet some other Mistress there Go then ingrateful tho' from me you fly You 'll never meet with one so fond as I. But some Camp Mistress lavish of her Charms Devoted to a Thousand Rival Arms. Then will you think when she is common grown On Deidamia who was all your own Thus will I chasp thee to my panting Breast And thus detain thee to my Bosom press't And while I fold thee thus and thus dispense These Kisses to restore thy wand'ring sense What dismal sound of War shall snatch thee hence What tho'the Gods have order'd you should go Or Greece return inglorious from her Foe Have not the self same cruel Gods decreed That if you went you should as surely Bleed Then since your Fate is destin'd to be such Ah! think can any Troy be worth so much Let Greece what e're she please for Vengeance give Secure at home shall my Achilles live Troy built by Heavenly hands may stand or fall You never shall obey the fatal call Your Deidamia swears you shall not go Life would be dear to you if she were so If not your own at least my safety prize For with Achilles Deidamia dyes All this and more the lovely mournful Maid Told the sad Youth who Sigh'd at all she said Yet would he not his resolution break Where all his Fame and Honour lay at stake Now would he think on Arms but when he gave A side-long glance on her he was to leave Then his tumultuous Thoughts began to jar And Love and Glory held a doubtful War Till with a deep-drawn Sigh and mighty course Of Tears which nothing else but Love could force To the Dear Maid he turns his wat'ry eyes And to her sad Discourse as sad replyes Thou late best Blessing of my Joyful Heart Now grown my grief since I must now depart Behold the Pangs I bear look up and see How much I grieve to go and comfort me Curse on that cunning Traytor 's smooth deceit VVhose craft has made me to my ruin great Curse on that Artifice by which I fell Curse on these hands for wielding Swords so well Tho'I should ne'r so fit for Battel prove All my Ambition's to be fit for Love In his soft VVars I would my Life beguile VVith thee contend in the transporting toil Ravish'd to read my Triumph in thy smile Boldly I 'd strive yet ev'n when Conquering yield To thee the glory of the Bloodless Field VVith liquid Fires melt thy rich Beautyes down Rifle thy Wealth yet give thee all my own So should our Wars be Rapture and Delight But now I 'm summon'd to another Fight 'T is not my fault that I am forc'd away But when my Honour calls I must obey Durst I not Death and every Danger brave I were not worthy of the Bliss I have More hazards than another would I meet Only to lay more Lawrels at your feet Oh! do not fear that I should faithless prove For You my only Life have all my Love The thought of You shall help me to subdue I 'le conquer faster to return to You. But if my Honours should be laid in Dust And I must fall as Heaven has said I must Ev'n in my Death my only grief will be That I for ever shall be snatch'd from thee That that alone occasions all my Fears Shakes my resolves and melts me into Tears My beating Heart pants to thee as I speak And wishes rather than depart to break Feel how it trembles with a Panick fright Sure it will never fail me thus in Fight I cannot longer hold this fond Discourse For now the Trumpets Sound our sad Divorce Sound every Trumpet there beat every Drum Use all your Charms to make Achilles come Farewel alas I have not time to tell How wondrous loath I part once more farewell Remember me as I 'll remember you Like me be constant and like me be true Gods I shall ne'r be gone Adieu adieu Adieu Absence Happy that Am'rous Youth whose Mistress hears His swelling Sighs and sees his falling Tears What Savage Maid her Pity can deny A breaking Heart and a still streaming Eye Absent alas he spends them all in vain While the Dear Cause is ignorant of his pain Yet wretched as he is he might be blest Would he himself contribute to his rest Would he resolve to struggle thro' the Net And but a while endeavour to forget But his Mad Thoughts run ev'ry passage o're And anxious Memory makes his Passion more Perplexing Memory that renews the Scene Of his past Cares and keeps him still in pain Keeps a poor Wretch perpetually opprest And never lets unhappy Lovers rest Le ts them no Pangs no cruel Sufferings lose But heaps their past upon their present Woes Such was Leanders Memory when remov'd And sunder'd by the Seas from all he lov'd The gather'd Winds had wrought the Tempest high Toss'd up the Ocean and obscur'd the Sky And at this time with an impetuous sway Pour'd forth their Forces and possess'd the Sea When the Bold Youth stood raging on the Beach To view the much lov'd Coast he could not reach His restless eyes ran all the distance o're And from afar discern'd his Hero's Tower Thrice Naked in the Waves his Skill he try'd And strove as he was us'd to stem the Tide But tumbling Billows threatned present wrack And rising up against him dash'd him back Then like a gallant Soldier forc'd to go Full of brave Wrath from a prevailing Foe Again to Town he makes his sad resort To see what Ships would loosen from the Port. Finding but one durst Launch into the Seas He writes a Letter fill'd with Words like these LEANDER'S Epistle to HERO In Imitation of Part of that OF OVID. REad this yet be not troubled when you read Your Lover comes not in his Letters stead On you all Health all Happiness attend Which I would much much rather bring than send But now those envious Storms obstruct my way And only this bold Bark durst put to Sea I too had come had not my Parents Spyes Stood by to watch me with suspicious eyes How many tedious days and nights are past Since I was suffer'd to behold you last Ye spightful Gods and Goddesses who keep Your wat'ry Courts within the spacious deep Why at this time are all the Winds broke forth Why swell the Seas beneath the furious North. 'T is Summer now when all should be serene The Sky's unclouded undisturb'd the Main Winter is yet unwilling to appear But you invert the Seasons of the Year Yet let me once attain the wish'd for Beach Out of the now Malicious Neptune's reach Then blow ye Winds ye troubled Billows roar Roll on your angry VVaves and lash the Shore Ruffle the Seas drive the Tempestuous Air Be one continued Storm to
keep me there Ah! Hero when to you my course is bent I seem to slide along a sinooth descent But in returning thence I clamber up And scale methinks some lofty Mountain's top Why when our Souls by mutual Love are joyn'd Why are we sunder'd by the Sea and Wind Either make my Abidos your retreat Or let your Sestos be my much lov'd Seat This Plague of Absence I can bear no more Come what can come I 'll shortly venture o'r Not all the rage of Seas nor force of Storms Nothing but Death shall keep me from thy Arms. Yet may that Death at least so friendly prove To float me to the Coast of her I love Let not the Thought occasion any fear Doubt not I will be soon and safely there But till that time let this employ your Hours And shew you that I can be none but Yours Mean-while the Vessel from the Land withdrew When Heaven took Pity on a Love so true The Winds to blow the Waves to toss forbore In leaps the ravish'd Youth and ventures o'r With a smooth passage to the farther Shoar Now to the Port the prosperous Lover drives And safely after all his toils arrives Dissolv'd in Bliss he lyes the live-long night Melts languishes and dyes in vast delight But that delight my Muse forbears to sing She knows the weakness of her Infant wing As when the Painter strove to draw the chief Of all the Grecians in his height of Grief In every Limb the well-shap'd Piece excell'd But coming to the Face his Pencil fail'd There modestly he staid and held for fear He should not reach the Woe he fancied there But round the mournful Head a Veil he threw That Men might guess at what he could not shew So when our pleasure rises to excess No Tongue can tell it and no Pen express Love will not have his mysteries reveal'd And Beauty keeps the joys it gives conceal'd And till those Joys my Delia lets me know To me they shall continue ever so Ah! Delia would Indulgent Love decree Thy faithful slave that Heaven of Bliss with thec What then should be my Verse what daring flights Should my Muse take reach what Coelestial heights Now in despair with drooping Notes she sings No dawn of hope to raise lier on her Wings In the warm Spring the warbling Birds rejoyce And in the smiling Sun-shine tune their Voice Bask'd in the Beams they strain their tender Throats Where chearful light inspires the charming Notes Such and so charming should my numbers be If you my only light would smile on me Your influence would inspire as moving airs And make my Song as soft and sweet as theirs Would you but once auspiciously incline To raise his Fame who only writes for thine I 'de sing such Notes as none but you could teach And none but one who loves like me can reach Secure of you what raptures could I boast How wretched shall I be when you are lost Ah! think what pangs despairing Lovers prove And what a bless'd Estate were mutual Love How might my Soul be with your favour rais'd And how in pleasing you my self be pleas'd With what delight what transport could I burn Did but my Flames receive the least return How would one tender look one pitying smile Or one kind word from you reward my toyl It must and would your tend'rest pity move Were you but once convinc'd how well I Love By every power that reigns and rules on high By Love the mightiest power of all the Sky By your dear self my last great Oath I swear That neither Life nor Soul are half so dear What need I these superfluous Vows repeat Already sigh'd so often at your Feet You know my passion is sincere and true I love you to excess you know I do No Tongue no Pen can what I feel express Ev'n Poetry it self must make it less You haunt me still where ever I remove There 's no retreat secure from Fate or Love My Soul from yours no distance can divide No Rocks nor Caves can from your Presence hide By day your lovely Form fills all my sight Nor do I lose you when I lose the light You are the charming Phantom of the Night Still your dear Image dances in my view And all my restless Thoughts run still on you You only are the sleeping Poets Dream And when a wake you only are his Theme Were I by some yet harder Fortune hurl'd To the remotest parts of all the World The coldest Northern Clime the Torrid Zone Should hear me sing of you and you alone That pleasing task should all my hours employ Spent in a charming melancholy joy The Chorus of the Birds the whisp'ring Boughs And murm'ring Streams should joyn to sooth my Woes My Thoughts of you should yield a sad delight While Joy and Grief contend like Day and Night With Smiles and Tears resembling Sun and Rain To keep the Pleasure I 'de endure the Pain If such content my troubled Soul could know Such satisfaction mix'd with so much woe If but my Thoughts could keep my wishes warm Ah! how would your transporting Presence charm How pleasant would these pathless wilds appear Were you alone my kind Companion here What should I then have left me to deplore Oh! what Society to wish for more No Country thou art in can Desart be And Towns are desolate depriv'd of thee Banish'd with thee I could an Exile bear Banish'd from thee the Banishment lyes there I to some lonely Isle with thee could fly Where not a Creature dwells but thou and I. Where a wide spreading Main around us roars Besprinkling with its Foam our desart Shores Where Winds and Waves in endless Wars engage And high wrought Tides roll with Eternal rage VVhere Ships far off their fearsul courses steer And no bold Vessel ever ventur's near Should rising Seas swell over every Coast VVere Mankind in a second Deluge lost Did only two of all the VVorld survive Only one Man one VVoman left alive And should the Gods that Lot to us allow VVere I Deucalion and my Pyrrha thou Contentedly I should my Fate embrace And would not beg them to renew our Race All my most ardent wishes should implore All I should ask from each indulgent Power VVould be to keep thee safe and have no more Your Cruelty occasions all my smart Your kindness could restore my bleeding Heart You work me to a Storm you make me calm You give the VVound and can infuse the Balm Of you I boast of you alone complain My greatest pleasure and my greatest pain VVhen e'r you grieve I can no comfort know And when you first are pleas'd I must be so VVhile you are well there 's no Disease I feel And I enjoy no Health when you are Ill. VVhat e'r you do my Actions does direct Your Smile can raise me and your Frown deject VVhom e'r you Love I by the self same Fate Love too and hate what ever wretch you hate VVith yours