BY Silvia if thy charming self be meant, If friendship be thy virgin vows' extent, O! let me in Aminta's praises join; Hers my esteem shall be, my passion thine. When for thy head the garland I prepare, A second wreath shall bind Aminta's hair, And when my choicest songs thy worth proclaim, Alternate verse shall bless Amint's name; My heart shall own the justice of her cause, And Love himself submit to Friendship's laws. But, if beneath thy numbers' soft disguise, Some favoured swain, some true Alexis lies; If Amaryllis breathes thy secret pains, And thy fond heart beats measure to thy strains, Mayst thou, howe'er I grieve, for ever find The flame propitious, and the lover kind; May Venus long exert her happy power, And make thy beauty, like thy verse, endure; May every God his friendly aid afford, Pan guard thy flock, and Ceres bless thy board. But, if by chance the series of thy joys Permit one thought less cheerful to arise, Piteous, transfer it to the mournful swain, Who loving much, who not beloved again, Feels an ill-fated passion's last excess, And dies in woe, that thou mayst live in peace. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...FIRST BOOK OF AIRS: 20. A HAPPY MARRIAGE by THOMAS CAMPION THE FALL; A GREAT FAVORIT BEHEADED by LUIS DE GONGORA WALT WHITMAN by FRANCIS HOWARD WILLIAMS THE CLINGING VINE by ANTIPATER OF SIDON |