E. Kirkall fec.
LOVE in Excess;
or the
Fatal Enquiry,
a
NOVEL.
In Three PARTS.
By Mrs. HAYWOOD.
----In vain from Fate we fly,
For first or last, as all must die,
So ’tis as much decreed above,
That first or last, we all must Love.
Lansdown.
The Fourth Edition Corrected.
LONDON:
Printed for D. Browne jun. at the Black Swan without Temple Bar. Mdccxxii.
TO
Mrs. Eliz. Haywood,
ON HER
NOVEL
CALL’D
Love in Excess, &c.
Fain wou’d I here my vast Ideas raise,
To paint the Wonders of Eliza’s praise;
But like young Artists where their Stroaks decay,
I shade those Glories which I can’t display.
Thy Prose in sweeter Harmony refines,
Than Numbers flowing thro’ the Muse’s Lines;
What Beauty ne’er cou’d melt, thy Touches fire,
And raise a Musick that can Love inspire;
Soul-thrilling Accents all our Senses wound,
And Strike with softness, whilst they Charm with sound!
When thy Count pleads, what Fair his Suit can flye?
Or when thy Nymph laments, what Eyes are dry?
Ev’n Nature’s self in Sympathy appears,
Yeilds Sigh for Sigh, and melts in equal Tears;
For such Descriptions thus at once can prove
The Force of Language, and the Sweets of Love.
The Myrtle’s Leaves with those of Fame entwine,
And all the Glories of that Wreath are thine?
As Eagles can undazzl’d view the Force
Of scorching Phœbus in his Noon-day Course;
Thy Genius to the God its Luster plays,
Meets his fierce Beams, and darts him Rays for Rays!
Oh Glorious Strength! Let each succeeding Page
Still boast those Charms and luminate the Age;
So shall thy beamful Fires with Light divine
Rise to the Sphere, and there triumphant Shine.
Richard Savage.
By an unknown Hand.
To the most Ingenious Mrs Haywood,
on her NOVEL Entitled,
Love in Excess:
A Stranger Muse, an Unbeliever too,
That Womens Souls such Strength of Vigour knew!
Nor less an Atheist to Love’s Power declar’d,
Till You a Champion for the Sex appear’d!
A Convert now, to both, I feel that Fire
Your Words alone can paint! Your Looks inspire!
Resistless now, Love’s shafts new pointed fly,
Wing’d with Your Flame, and blazing in Your Eye.
With sweet, but pow’rful Force, the Charm-shot Heart
Receives th’ Impression of the Conqu’ring Dart,
And ev’ry Art’ry huggs the Joy-tipt Smart!
No more of Phœbus, rising vainly boast,
Ye tawny Sons of a luxuriant Coast!
While our blest Isle is with such Rays replete,
Britain shall glow with more than Eastern Heat!
VERSES
Wrote in the Blank Leaf of
Mrs. Haywood’s Novel.
Of all the Passions given us from above,
The Noblest, Truest, and the Best, is Love;
’Tis Love awakes the Soul, informs the Mind,
And bends the stubborn Temper to be kind,
Abates the Edge of ev’ry poi’nant Care
Succeeds the Wishes of the trembling Fair,
And ravishes the Lover from Despair.
’Tis Love Eliza’s soft Affections fires,
Eliza writes, but Love alone inspires;
’Tis Love, that gives D’Elmont his manly Charms,
And tears Amena from her Father’s Arms;
Relieves the Fair one from her Maiden Fear,
And gives Melliora all her Soul holds dear,
A generous Lover, and a Bliss sincere.
Receive, my Fair, the Story, and approve,
The Cause of Honour, and the Cause of Love;
With kind Concern, the tender Page peruse,
And aid the Infant Labours of the Muse.
So never may those Eyes forget to shine,
And bright Melliora’s Fortune be as Thine;
On thy best Looks, an happy D’Elmont feed,
And all the Wishes of thy Soul succeed.
