Matthew Prior. Poems on Several Occasions The Text Edited by A. R. Waller |
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TO THE
AUTHOR
OF THE
Foregoing PASTORAL. |
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 | Matthew Prior. Poems on Several Occasions |  |
28
TO THE AUTHOR OF THE Foregoing PASTORAL.
By Silvia if thy charming Self be meant;
If Friendship be thy Virgin Vows Extent;
O! let me in Aminta's Praises join:
Her's my Esteem shall be, my Passion Thine.
When for Thy Head the Garland I prepare;
A second Wreath shall bind Aminta's Hair:
And when my choicest Songs Thy Worth proclaim;
Alternate Verse shall bless Aminta's Name:
My Heart shall own the Justice of Her Cause;
And Love himself submit to Friendship's Laws.
If Friendship be thy Virgin Vows Extent;
O! let me in Aminta's Praises join:
Her's my Esteem shall be, my Passion Thine.
When for Thy Head the Garland I prepare;
A second Wreath shall bind Aminta's Hair:
And when my choicest Songs Thy Worth proclaim;
Alternate Verse shall bless Aminta's Name:
My Heart shall own the Justice of Her Cause;
And Love himself submit to Friendship's Laws.
But if beneath thy Numbers soft Disguise,
Some favor'd Swain, some true Alexis lyes;
If Amaryllis breaths thy secret Pains;
And thy fond Heart beats Measure to thy Strains:
May'st thou, howe'er I grieve, for ever find
The Flame propitious, and the Lover kind:
May Venus long exert her happy Pow'r,
And make thy Beauty, like thy Verse, endure:
May ev'ry God his friendly Aid afford;
Pan guard thy Flock, and Ceres bless thy Board.
Some favor'd Swain, some true Alexis lyes;
If Amaryllis breaths thy secret Pains;
And thy fond Heart beats Measure to thy Strains:
May'st thou, howe'er I grieve, for ever find
The Flame propitious, and the Lover kind:
May Venus long exert her happy Pow'r,
And make thy Beauty, like thy Verse, endure:
May ev'ry God his friendly Aid afford;
Pan guard thy Flock, and Ceres bless thy Board.
But if by chance the Series of thy Joys
Permit one Thought less chearful to arise;
Piteous transfer it to the mournful Swain,
Who loving much, who not belov'd again,
Feels an ill-fated Passion's last Excess;
And dies in Woe, that Thou may'st live in Peace.
Permit one Thought less chearful to arise;
Piteous transfer it to the mournful Swain,
Who loving much, who not belov'd again,
Feels an ill-fated Passion's last Excess;
And dies in Woe, that Thou may'st live in Peace.
| Matthew Prior. Poems on Several Occasions | |