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Orval, or The Fool of Time

And Other Imitations and Paraphrases. By Robert Lytton
Lytton, Edward Robert Bulwer Lytton (1831-1891)

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[section]
  
[dedication]
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IMITATIONS AND PARAPHRASES.
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MICHELAGNOLO BUONARROTI
  
THE BIRTH OF LOVE.
  
LOVE VINDICATED.
  
MADRIGALS.
  
CANZONE.
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RONSARD.
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DANISH.
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SERVIAN.

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332

LOVE VINDICATED.

Call it not impious crime, nor mortal sin,
That noble love that mighty Beauty excites
In him whose softly-opening heart invites
Some beam of holier light to enter in.
Love wakes, and moves; and plumes his wings to win
His upward goal. And oft the soul, that slights
Her earthly home, to Heaven's ancestral heights
Doth, by his ardour lured, her flight begin.
The love that speaks of thee aspires on high,
Nor feebly burns nor falters. To obey
A baser passion my true heart were shamed.
True Love for Heaven, as Lust for Earth, doth sigh:
This doth the soul, that doth the senses, sway:
And at ignoble mark his bow is aim'd.
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