I was foretold your rebel sex Nor love, nor pity knew, And with what scorn you use to vex Poor hearts that humbly sue; Yet I believed, to crown our pain, Could we the fortress win, The happy lover sure should gain A paradise within. I thought love's plagues, like dragons, sate, Only to fright us at the gate. But I did enter and enjoy What happy lovers prove, For I could kiss, and sport and toy, And taste those sweets of love, Which, if they had a lasting state, Or if in Celia's breast The force of love might not abate, Jove were too mean a guest. But now her breach of faith far more Afflicts, than did her scorn before. Hard fate! to have been once possessed As victor of a heart, Achieved with labour and unrest, And then forced to depart; If the stout foe will not resign, When I besiege a town, I lose but what was never mine, But he that is cast down From enjoyed beauty, feels a woe Only deposed kings can know. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...FOR THE NEW YEAR by EDWIN MARKHAM THE OLD VICARAGE, GRANTCHESTER by RUPERT BROOKE THE LISTENERS by WALTER JOHN DE LA MARE HOW'S MY BOY? by SYDNEY THOMPSON DOBELL LINES COMPOSED AT GRASMERE by WILLIAM WORDSWORTH THE CASE OF ALBERT IRVING WILLIAMSON by FRANKLIN PIERCE ADAMS |