University of Virginia Library


26

Behold, o! fairest of those gentle maids,
Who with their beauty grace these learned shades,
Behold! what conquests thy perfections gain,
A reverend, aged doctor wears thy chain,
Me whom a college for its Head obeys,
To whom each fellow servile homage pays,
Thy beauty captivates, thy charms inthral,
Ev'n at these years a slave to love I fall.
And o! my dearest Raggy, do not quite
Break my old heart, or judge my torments slight,
Unlike raw boys who tell you fulsome lies,
Adore this moment, and the next despise,
Ripen'd with age my passion cannot change,
Nor will my years permit my heart to range;

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Smile on me then, and with thy blooming charms
Bless my desiring, my impatient arms,
One evening at my lodgings let me prove
With how much truth and constancy I love.