 | The works of Anna Lætitia Barbauld |  |
78
SONG III.
[Leave me, simple shepherd, leave me]
Sylvia.Leave me, simple shepherd, leave me;
Drag no more a hopeless chain:
I cannot like, nor would deceive thee;—
Love the maid that loves again.
Corin.
Though more gentle nymphs surround me,
Kindly pitying what I feel;
Only you have power to wound me:
Sylvia, only you can heal.
Sylvia.
Corin, cease this idle teasing;
Love that's forced is harsh and sour:
If the lover be displeasing,
To persist disgusts the more.
79
'Tis in vain, in vain to fly me,
Sylvia, I will still pursue;
Twenty thousand times deny me,
I will kneel and weep anew.
Sylvia.
Cupid ne'er shall make me languish,
I was born averse to love;
Lovers' sighs, and tears, and anguish,
Mirth and pastime to me prove.
Corin.
Still I vow with patient duty
Thus to meet your proudest scorn;
You for unrelenting beauty,
I for constant love was born.
But the Fates had not consented,
Since they both did fickle prove;
Of her scorn the maid repented,
And the shepherd—of his love.
Since they both did fickle prove;
Of her scorn the maid repented,
And the shepherd—of his love.
| The works of Anna Lætitia Barbauld | |