Poems Upon Several Occasions | ||
105
The BOLDNESS.
I
Its not the mighty Alps, tho' cloath'd with SnowShall stop or hinder me from loving now:
Resolv'd I am, I'll cut through all,
I'll love as deep as Hannibal:
Tho' this at last should prove my Doom,
Yet I the more will venture on.
He is an Ass who dares not fight
For amorous Love, a Spark so bright:
I'll stand my Ground, here shall my Colours be,
I durst engage the stoutest Enemy.
II
I'll sound a Charge, among the Stars I seeCastor and Pollux, Signs of Victory.
Why do I stay? I must be gone,
Cupid's Breast-plate I'll put on,
His poyson'd Arrows I will bear,
Stuck in the Bow he's us'd to wear;
106
The World shall hear of mighty things;
For in my Hand as sure and fatal proves
The Dart of Love, as Thunder shall in Jove's.
III
The boisterous Billows of the raging SeaRoar as they will, their Voice I'll nere obey;
Altho' Leander's Corps I view,
Gushing out Blood anew;
Altho' the dismal Voice I hear,
Repeating still, forbear, forbear:
The weeping Seas should not prevent
My travelling in that Element;
For the great Pow'r of Love's Almighty Wand
Divides the Waves as well as that in Neptune's hand.
IV
Should my wing'd Love fly to the Stygian Lake,The moving Harp of Orpheus I would take;
The Harp I mean, whose mighty Strings
Can at a Touch work mighty Things;
107
In spite of all the Devils there,
I'd force her to this World again,
Reverse the Sentence of her pain;
And if these Charms by mortal Art could move
The Woods, the Stones, what can't the Force of Love?
V
Or if Astræa, like my Darling LoveShould fly unto the utmost Worlds above,
I'd build a Monument so high,
The Clouds beneath me as I fly;
Or else I would like th'Earth's bold Son
Have Mountains heap'd, and built upon,
And if the angry Gods with Fire
Should quash the Motions of my vain Desire,
In the same Flames I'd to my Love ascend,
To thee, as Load-stones to the North, I'd bend.
VI
But some poor Fools, in whose dull lump of ClayA spark of Love divine yet never lay.
108
For fear their puny Love take cold:
I'm sure they're out, for beauty's Ray
Can soon dissolve this Ice away;
I'll never so false-hearted prove,
There is no Medium between me and Love,
Chill Neptune's Realms shall nere my Courage tame,
For th' Hellespont did once create a Flame.
Poems Upon Several Occasions | ||