THOMAS STANLEY. 1620(?)-1678. ["Poems." 1651.] THE DEPOSITION. THOUGH, when I loved thee, thou wert fair, Thou art no longer so; Those glories all the pride they wear Unto opinion owe. Beauties, like stars, in borrowed lustre shine, And 't was my love that gave thee thine. The flames that dwelt within thine eye Do now with mine expire; Thy brightest graces fade and die At once with my desire. Love's fires thus mutual influence return; Then, proud Celinda, hope no more Since by thy scorn thou dost restore And thy despised disdain too late shall find THE TOMB. When, cruel fair one, I am slain And, as a trophy of thy scorn, To some old tomb am borne, Nor can thy flame immortal burn, Like monumental fires within an urn: Thus freed from thy proud empire, I shall prove There is more liberty in Death than Love. And when forsaken lovers come To see my tomb, Take heed thou mix not with the crowd, And (as a victor) proud, To view the spoils thy beauty made, Lest thy too cruel breath or name But if cold earth, or marble, must Whilst hid in some dark ruins, I, Dumb and forgotten, lie, The pride of all thy victory Will sleep with me; And they who should attest thy glory, Will, or forget, or not believe this story. Then to increase thy triumph, let me rest, Since by thine eye slain, buried in thy breast. THE EXEQUIES. Draw near, You lovers that complain Of Fortune or Disdain, And to my ashes lend a tear; Melt the hard marble with your groans, And soften the relentless stones, Whose cold embraces the sad subject hide No verse, No epicedium bring, Nor peaceful requiem sing, To charm the terrors of my hearse; No profane slumbers must flow near The sacred silence that dwells here. Vast griefs are dumb; softly, O, softly mourn, Lest you disturb the peace attends my urn. Yet strew Upon my dismal grave Such offerings as you have, For kinder flowers can take no birth, Or growth, from such unhappy earth. Weep only o'er my dust, and say, Here lies To Love and Fate an equal sacrifice. SIR EDWARD SHERBURNE. 1618-1702. ["Salmacis," etc. 1651.] CHANGE DEFENDED. LEAVE, Chloris, leave, prithee no more With want of love, or lightness charge me : 'Cause thy looks captived me before, May not another's now enlarge me? He, whose misguided zeal hath long Paid homage to some star's pale light, Better informed, may without wrong, Leave that t'adore the queen of night. Then if my heart, which long served thee, Censure that lover's such, whose will Inferior objects can entice; Who changes for the better still, Makes that a virtue, you call vice. 233 LOVE ONCE, LOVE EVER. Shall I hopeless then pursue A fair shadow that still flies me? Shall I still adore, and woo A proud heart, that does despise me? I a constant love may so, But alas! a fruitless, show. Shall I by the erring light Of two crosser stars still sail ? Not to guide, but make me fail? Whilst these thoughts my soul possess, Or divert some other way: But what reason would pursue, That my heart runs counter to. So a pilot, bent to make Search for some unfound out land, Does with him the magnet take, Sailing to the unknown strand; But that (stir which way he will) To the loved north points still. |