 | Aurelian Townshend's Poem and Masks |  |
84
The fugitive Favourite.
Was I a Lyon! that am now afraid!
I feare no danger; nor I feare no Death;
But to be Retransform'd, into a Beast:
Which while I was, although I must confesse,
I was the Brauest: What could shee doe lesse,
That saw me Subiect, to no base desire:
Yet was there in me, a Promethean fire,
That made me covet to be man againe,
Govern'd by Reason, and not rul'd by Sense.
I feare no danger; nor I feare no Death;
85
Which while I was, although I must confesse,
I was the Brauest: What could shee doe lesse,
That saw me Subiect, to no base desire:
Yet was there in me, a Promethean fire,
That made me covet to be man againe,
Govern'd by Reason, and not rul'd by Sense.
Therefore I shunne this place of Residence,
And flye to Vertue: in whose awfull sight,
She dares not come, but in a Maske, and crouch,
As low as I did, for my liberty.
And flye to Vertue: in whose awfull sight,
She dares not come, but in a Maske, and crouch,
As low as I did, for my liberty.
Her Bowre is pleasant, and her Palace Rich;
Her Fare Delicious, and her Language fine;
But shall the Soule, the Minion of the Gods,
Stoope to her Vassalls? Or stand by and sterue,
While they sit swelling, in her Chayre of State?
Her Fare Delicious, and her Language fine;
But shall the Soule, the Minion of the Gods,
Stoope to her Vassalls? Or stand by and sterue,
While they sit swelling, in her Chayre of State?
Tis not her Rod, her Philters, nor her Herbes,
(Though strong in Magicke) that can bound mens minds;
And make them Prisoners, where there is no wall.
It is consent that makes a perfect Slaue:
And Sloth that binds us to Lusts easie Trades,
Wherein we serue out our youths Prentiship,
Thinking at last, Loue should enfranchize vs,
Whome we haue neuer, either seru'd or knowne:
(Though strong in Magicke) that can bound mens minds;
And make them Prisoners, where there is no wall.
It is consent that makes a perfect Slaue:
And Sloth that binds us to Lusts easie Trades,
Wherein we serue out our youths Prentiship,
Thinking at last, Loue should enfranchize vs,
Whome we haue neuer, either seru'd or knowne:
“He finds no helpe, that vses not his owne.
| Aurelian Townshend's Poem and Masks | |