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190
The HUFFER.
Spoken by Ant. Eyre Esquire, and directed to the right Honourable, the Lady Roos, when he acted Almanzor in the Granada, at Belvoir; in way of Prologue.
1677.
I that made Fortune Lacky by my side,
Had Fame for Trumpet, and Success for Guide:
I that did conquer Armies with a word,
Making Fate yield to my more pow'rful Sword:
I that could with a Smile bestow a Crown,
Then blast my new rais'd Monarch with a Frown.
Almanzor, I, who (by the Poet taught)
Huft more, than ever Hero did, or ought:
I now submit, and lay my Lawrels down;
But from your favours hope a nobler Crown.
Had Fame for Trumpet, and Success for Guide:
I that did conquer Armies with a word,
Making Fate yield to my more pow'rful Sword:
I that could with a Smile bestow a Crown,
Then blast my new rais'd Monarch with a Frown.
Almanzor, I, who (by the Poet taught)
Huft more, than ever Hero did, or ought:
I now submit, and lay my Lawrels down;
But from your favours hope a nobler Crown.
Whence is this sudden calm? what could controul
The working passion of my boistrous Soul?
My breast did like some Northern Climate show,
Its fountain froze, and cover'd o're with Snow.
Thaw'd, Ladies, by your Eyes (those Mid-day Suns)
The melting Spring drops Rubies, as it runs.
My Blood, once safe under this Icy Lock,
Softens like Coral on the melting Rock.
No Lapland Spell, can temper any Arms
To be of proof, 'gainst Beauties stronger charms.
And one amongst those Ladies I have 'spi'd,
Whose pointed rayes wound more than Almahide.
The working passion of my boistrous Soul?
My breast did like some Northern Climate show,
Its fountain froze, and cover'd o're with Snow.
Thaw'd, Ladies, by your Eyes (those Mid-day Suns)
The melting Spring drops Rubies, as it runs.
My Blood, once safe under this Icy Lock,
Softens like Coral on the melting Rock.
No Lapland Spell, can temper any Arms
To be of proof, 'gainst Beauties stronger charms.
And one amongst those Ladies I have 'spi'd,
Whose pointed rayes wound more than Almahide.
Nature, and Dryden, all that both could do
To perfect Almahide, falls short of you.
Tho they advance the lustres of her Eyes,
Above the Stars o'th Rocks, or Gemms o'th' Skies:
When you appear, their sickly beams give way,
Like frighted Phantoms to the springing Day.
Nay I, who thought no passions me could move,
Be'ng free from fear, and therefore free from Love.
Greater than Nature, you my Heart constrain'd;
And Love has now his stubborn Rebel chain'd:
Yet not content to rest his Empire there,
It's doubly chain'd; and now inslav'd to fear.
Two strong Diseases I at once indure,
Yet as an Ague does from Plagues secure;
My trembling Fear, lest I presumptuous prove,
Allayes the raging Pestilence of Love.
To perfect Almahide, falls short of you.
191
Above the Stars o'th Rocks, or Gemms o'th' Skies:
When you appear, their sickly beams give way,
Like frighted Phantoms to the springing Day.
Nay I, who thought no passions me could move,
Be'ng free from fear, and therefore free from Love.
Greater than Nature, you my Heart constrain'd;
And Love has now his stubborn Rebel chain'd:
Yet not content to rest his Empire there,
It's doubly chain'd; and now inslav'd to fear.
Two strong Diseases I at once indure,
Yet as an Ague does from Plagues secure;
My trembling Fear, lest I presumptuous prove,
Allayes the raging Pestilence of Love.
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