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The Works of Mr. Robert Gould

In Two Volumes. Consisting of those Poems [and] Satyrs Which were formerly Printed, and Corrected since by the Author; As also of the many more which He Design'd for the Press. Publish'd from his Own Original Copies [by Robert Gould]

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The vain Pursuit.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
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The vain Pursuit.

To a Lady that desir'd him to write to her in Verse.

Cloe , when you are pleas'd Commands to lay,
Tho' 'twere on Kings, they'd readily obey;
Much more may I, then—so much less than they.
But ah! I fear my humble Verse will move
You rather to despise it, than approve;
For I can write of nothing else but Love.
Of nothing else; 'tis my perpetual Theme,
That flows as 'twere an inexhausted Stream,
In all I say, or do, or think, or dream.

41

Sometimes I take my Book and go to Prayer;
But Love, fond Love ev'n interrupts me there,
And turns my vain Devotions into Air.
Long have I search'd but never yet cou'd find
The happy Balm that heals a wounded Mind:
There's not a Star in Heav'n but what's unkind.
For the hard She that I am doom'd t'obey,
From my Pursuit for ever flies away,
And Fate it self's too weak to bribe her Stay.
Shadows that flit before us o'er the Plain,
As fast pursue when we return again;
But She ne'er turns, and ne'er can be o'ertane.
This is the rigid Fate I'm forc'd to bear:
And tell me, Fair one, is it not severe
That so much Love shou'd meet so much Despair?
Despair, the bitter Bowl, as Authors tell,
That to the Brim does with such Poison swell,
As makes the Furies lash themselves in Hell.
Her Name I will conceal—My Reason why,
Because there's none shall blame me when I die,
That one so low shou'd have a Thought so high.