Dim and remote the joys of faints I fee;

Nor envy them that heav'n I lose for thee.

How oft, when prefs'd to marriage, have I faid, Curfe on all laws but thofe which Love has made? Love, free as air, at fight of human ties,

Spreads his light wings, and in a moment flies.
Let wealth, let honour, wait the wedded dame,
Auguft her deed, and facred be her fame;
Before true paffion all thofe views remove,

Fame, wealth, and honour! what are you to Love?
The jealous God, when we profane his fires,
Those restless paffions in revenge inspires,
And bids them make mistaken mortals groan,
Who feek in love for aught but love alone.
Should at my feet the world's great master fall,
Himself, his throne, his world, I'd fcorn 'em all:
Not Cæfar's emprefs would I deign to prove;
No, make me mistress to the man I love;

If there be yet another name more free,

75

85

More fond than mistress, make me that to thee! 90 Oh! happy state! when fouls each other draw, When love is liberty, and nature, law:

VER. 75.

IMITATIONS.

Love will not be confin'd by Maisterie:

When Maisterie comes, the Lord of Love anon

Flutters his wings, and forthwith is he gone.

Chaucer. P.

All then is full, poffeffing, and possest,

No craving void left aking in the breast:

Ev'n thought meets thought, ere from the lips it part,
And each warm wifh fprings mutual from the heart.
This fure is blifs (if blifs on earth there be)
And once the lot of Abelard and me.

Alas how chang'd! what fudden horrors rife !
A naked Lover bound and bleeding lies!
Where, where was Eloïfe? her voice, her hand,
Her ponyard had oppos'd the dire command.
Barbarian, ftay! that bloody ftroke restrain ;
The crime was common, common be the pain.
I can no more, by fhame, by rage suppress'd,
Let tears, and burning blushes speak the rest.

100

Canft thou forget that fad, that folemn day, When victims at yon altar's foot we lay? Canft thou forget what tears that moment fell, When, warm in youth, I bade the world farewell? As with cold lips I kifs'd the facred veil, The fhrines all trembled, and the lamps grew pale: Heav'n fcarce believ'd the Conquest it survey'd, And Saints with wonder heard the vows I made. Yet then, to thofe dread altars as I drew, Not on the Cross my eyes were fix'd, but you: Not grace, or zeal, love only was my call, And if I lofe thy love, I lose my all.

115

Come! with thy looks, thy words, relieve my woe;

Thofe ftill at least are left thee to bestow.

120

Still on that breast enamour'd let me lie,

Still drink delicious poifon from thy eye,

Pant on thy lip, and to thy heart be press'd;
Give all thou canft- and let me dream the rest.
Ah no! inftruct me other joys to prize,
With other beauties charm my partial eyes,
Full in my view fet all the bright abode,
And make my foul quit Abelard for God.

Ah think at least thy flock deferves thy care,
Plants of thy hand, and children of thy pray'r.
From the falfe world in early youth they fled,

I

125

130

By thee to mountains, wilds, and deferts led.

You rais'd these hallow'd walls; the defert fmil'd, And Paradife was open'd in the Wild.

No weeping orphan faw his father's ftores

135

Our shrines irradiate, or emblaze the floors;
No filver faints, by dying mifers giv❜n,
Hete brib'd the rage of ill-requited heav'n:
But fuch plain roofs as Piety could raife,
And only vocal with the Maker's praise.

140

In thefe lone walls (their days eternal bound)

Thefe mofs-grown domes with fpiry turrets crown'd,

NOTES.

VER. 133. You rais'd thefe hallow'd walls;] He founded the Monaftery. P.

Where awful arches make a noon-day night,
And the dim windows shed a folemn light;
Thy eyes diffus'd a reconciling ray,

And gleams of glory brighten'd all the day.
But now no face divine contentment wears,
'Tis all blank sadness, or continual tears.
See how the force of others pray'rs I try,
(O pious fraud of am'rous charity !)

But why should I on others pray'rs depend?

145

150

Come thou, my father, brother, husband, friend!
Ah let thy handmaid, fifter, daughter move,
And all those tender names in one, thy love!
The darksome pines that o'er yon rocks reclin'd
Wave high, and murmur to the hollow wind,
The wand'ring ftreams that shine between the hills,
The grots that echo to the tinkling rills,

The dying gales that pant upon the trees,

The lakes that quiver to the curling breeze;
No more these scenes my meditation aid,
Or lull to reft the visionary maid.
But o'er the twilight groves and dusky caves,
Long-founding ifles, and intermingled graves,
Black Melancholy fits, and round her throws
A death-like filence, and a dread repose:
Her gloomy presence faddens all the scene,
Shades ev'ry flow'r, and darkens ev'ry green,

160

165

Deepens the murmur of the falling floods,

And breathes a browner horror on the woods. 170
Yet here for ever, ever muft I ftay;

Sad proof how well a lover can obey!
Death, only death, can break the lasting chain;
And here, ev'n then, fhall my cold duft remain,
Here all its frailties, all its flames refign,
And wait till 'tis no fin to mix with thine.

175

Ah wretch! believ'd the spouse of God in vain,

Confefs'd within the flave of love and man.

Affift me, heav'n! but whence arofe that pray'r?
Sprung it from piety, or from despair?

180

Ev'n here, where frozen chastity retires,
Love finds an altar for forbidden fires.

I ought to grieve, but cannot what I ought;

I mourn the lover, not lament the fault;

185

I view my crime, but kindle at the view,
Repent old pleafures, and follicit new;

Now turn'd to heav'n, I weep my past offence,
Now think of thee, and curfe my innocence.

Of all affliction taught a lover yet,
'Tis fure the hardeft fcience to forget!
How fhall I lofe the fin, yet keep the fenfe,
And love th'offender, yet deteft th'offence?
How the dear object from the crime remove,
Or how distinguish penitence from love?
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190