SONG by RICHARD LOVELACE

I DID believe I was in heav'n,
When first the heav'n herself was giv'n,
That in my heart her beams did pass
As some the sun keep in a glass,

So that her beauties thorough me
Did hurt my rival-enemy.
But fate, alas! decreed it so,
That I was engine to my woe;
For as a corner'd crystal spot
My heart diaphanous was not,
But solid stuff, where her eye flings
Quick fire upon the catching strings:
Yet, as at triumphs in the night,
You see the prince's arms in light,
So when I once was set on flame,
I burnt all o'er the letters of her name.

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