The sweet, sweet love of daughter, of sister, and of wife,
The gentle speech, the balm for all that his vexed soul endures,
The kiss in which he half forgets even such a yoke as yours;
Still let the maiden’s beauty swell the father’s breast with pride,
Still let the bridegroom’s arms enfold an unpolluted bride;
Spare us the inexpiable wrong, the unutterable shame,
That turns the coward’s heart to steel, the sluggard’s blood to flame,
Lest, when our latest hope is fled, ye taste of our despair,
And learn by proof, in some wild hour, how much the wretched dare.”
Having led the devoted maiden to the spot for sacrifice, he pours out in passionate language the wealth of his affection, closing thus: