CONSTANCY.
O heaven! were man
But constant, he were perfect. That one error
Fills him with faults; makes him run through all the sins:
Inconstancy falls off ere it begins.
Two Gentlemen of Verona, Act v. Sc. 4. SHAKESPEARE.
They sin who tell us Love can die:
With Life all other passions fly,
All others are but vanity.
Curse of Kehama, Canto X. R. SOUTHEY.
Doubt thou the stars are fire,
Doubt that the sun doth move;
Doubt truth to be a liar.
But never doubt I love.
Hamlet, Act ii. Sc. 2. SHAKESPEARE.
When love begins to sicken and decay,
It useth an enforcèd ceremony.
There are no tricks in plain and simple faith.
Julius Cæsar, Act iv. Sc. 2. SHAKESPEARE.
You say to me-wards your affection's strong;
Pray love me little, so you love me long.
Love me little, love me long. R. HERRICK.
When change itself can give no more,
'Tis easy to be true.
Reasons for Constancy. SIR C. SEDLEY.
If ever thou shalt love,
In the sweet pangs of it remember me;
For such as I am all true lovers are,
Unstaid and skittish in all motions else.
Save in the constant image of the creature
That is beloved.
Twelfth Night, Act ii. Sc. 4. SHAKESPEARE.
I could be well moved if I were as you;
If I could pray to move, prayers would move me;
But I am constant as the northern star,
Of whose true fixed and resting quality
There is no fellow in the firmament.
Julius Cæsar, Act iii. Sc. 1. SHAKESPEARE.