The only Woman that has Pow'r to kill,
And yet is good enough to want the Will;
Who needs no foft alluring Words repeat:
Nor study'd Looks of languishing Deceit.
Fantastick Beauty, always in the wrong,
Still thinks fome Pride must to its Pow'r belong;
An Air affected and a haughty Mien;
Something that seems to fay, I would be feen.
But of all Womankind this only She
Full of its Charms, and from its Frailty free,
Deferves fome nobler Muse her Fame to raise,
By making the whole Sex befide, herPyramid of Praise.
She, She appear'd, the Source of all my Joys ;
The dearest Care that all my Thought employs:
Gently fhe look'd, as when I left her last ;
When first she feiz'd my Heart, and held it faft;
When, if my Vows, alas! were made too late,
I faw my Doom came not from her, but Fate.
With Pity then fhe eas'd my raging Pain,
And her kind Eyes could scarce from Tears refrain :
Why gentle Swain, faid fhc, why do you grieve
In Words I should not hear, much lefs believe?
I gaze on that which is a Fault to mind,
And ought to fly the Danger which I find :
Offalse Mankind tho' you may be the best,
Ye all have robb'd poor Women of their Reft.
I fee your Pain, and fee it too with Grief,
Because I would, yet muft not give Relicf;
Thus, for a Husband's fake, as well as yours;
My fcrup❜lous Soul divided Pain endures;
Guilty, alas, to both; for thus I do
Too much for him, yet not enough for you.
Give over then, give over, hapless Swain,
A Paffion moving, but a Paffion vain.
Not Chance, nor Time fhall ever change my Thought, 'Tis better much to die, than do a Fault.
Oh worse than ever! Is it then my Doom
Juft to fee Heav'n, where I muft never come?
Your foft Compaffion, if not fomething more:
Yet I remain as wretched as before:
The Wind indeed is fair, but ah! no Sight of Shore. Farewel, too fcrup'lous Fair-one, oh farewel, What Torments I endure, no Tongue can tell ; Thank Heav'n my Fate transports me now, where I Your Martyr may with Eafe and Safety die.
With that I kneel'd, and feiz'd her tremblingHand, While fhe impos'd this cruel kind Command: Live and love on; you will be true I know, But live then, and come back to tell me fo; For tho' I blush at this last guilty Breath,
I can endure that better than your Death.
Tormenting Kindness! Barbarous Reprieve! Condemn'd to die, and yet compell'd to live!
This tender Scene my Dream repeated o'er,
Juft as it pafs'd in real Truth before.
Methought I then fell grov'ling to the Ground,
Till on a fudden rais'd, I wond'ring found
A ftrange Appearance all in taintless White ;
His Form gave Rev'rence, and his Face Delight:
Goodness and Greatness in his Eyes were feen;
Gentle his Look, and affable his Mien.
A kindly Notice of me thus he took;
"What mean these flowing Eyes, this ghaftly Look?
"Thefe trembling Joints, this loose dishevel'd Hair,
"And this cold Dew, the Drops of deep Despair?
With Grief and Wonder first my Spirits faint,
But thus at last I vented my Complaint.
Behold a Wretch whom cruel Fate has found,
And in the Depth of all Misfortune drown'd.
There shines a Nymph, to whom an envy'd Swain
Is ty'd in HY MEN's ceremonious Chain,
But cloy'd with Charms of such a Marriage-Bed,
And fed with Manna, yet he longs for Bread;
And will, moft Husband-like, not only range
For Love perhaps of nothing else but Change;
But to inferiour Beauty prostate lics,
And courts her Love, in fcorn of FLAVIA'S Eyes.
All this I knew, (the Form divine reply'd)
And did but ask to have thy Temper try'd,
Which prove fincere. Of both I know the Mind,
She is too fcrupulous, and thou too kind:
But fince thy fatal Love's for ever fix'd,
Whatever Time or Abfence come betwixt;
Since thy fond Heart ev'n her Difdain prefers
To others Love, I'll fomething foften hers;
Elfe in the Search of Virtue fhe may ftray,
Well-meaning Mortals fhould not lose their Way.
She now indeed fins on the fafer Side,
For Hearts too loofe are never to be ty'd;
But no Extremes are either good or wife;
And in the midft alone true Virtue lies.
When Marriage-Vows unite an equal Pair,
'Tis a meer Contract, made by humane Care,
By which they both are for Convenience ty'd;
The Bridegroom yet more ftrictly than the Bride;
For Circumftances alter ev'ry Ill,
And Woman meets with moft Temptation ftill;
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