University of Virginia Library

XI.

[Thou then Latona's Star more bright]

Thou then Latona's Star more bright,
Fairer then Venus golden Light,
A hundred Kisses pay;
Many as Lesbia
Gave and receiv'd from her glad Lover;
As are the Graces round thee hover,
Or Cupids that do skip
About thy Cheek, and Lip;
As lives and Deaths thy bright Eye wears;
As many Hopes, as many Fears,
Joyes interlin'd with Woe,
Or sighs from Lovers flow;
As many as the Darts, that on
My Heart by the wing'd Boy are sown;
As many as do ly
In his gilt Armory;

65

To these kinde Blandishments, with glad
Whispers, and mirthful Dalliance add;
With grateful Smiles, that may
Our full Delight betray;
As two Chaonian Turtles bill,
And the soft Air with murmurs fill,
When Winters rigid Snows
Away young Zephyr blows;
Rest on my Cheek in Extasie,
Ready to close thy dying Eye;
And as thou faint'st away
Me to uphold thee pray:
My Arms about thee I will twine;
My warm to thy cold Bosome joyn,
And call thee back from Death,
With a long Kisses Breath:
'Till me like Fate of Life bereave,
Who in that Kiss my Spirit leave,
And as I sink away
Thee to uphold me pray:
Thy Arms about me thou shalt ty,
Thy warm to my cold Breast apply,
And summon me from Death
With a long Kisses Breath.
Thus let us Dear in mutual Joy
The florid part of Time employ;
For Age our Lives will waste;
Sicknesse and Death make haste.