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When I commanded am by thee, (Or by thine eye or hand,) What monarch would not prouder be15 To serve than to command? | } | [35:1] |
Then think not[35:2] freedom I desire,
Or would my fetters leave,
Since, phœnix-like, I from this fire
Both life and youth receive.20
Fool! take up thy shaft again.
If thy store
Thou profusely spend in vain,
Who can furnish thee with more?
Throw not then away thy darts5
On impenetrable hearts.
Think not thy pale flame can warm
Into tears,
Or dissolve the snowy charm
Which her frozen bosom wears,10
That expos’d unmelted lies
To the bright suns of her eyes.
But since thou thy power hast lost,
Nor canst fire
Kindle in that breast, whose frost15
Doth these flames in mine inspire;
Not to thee but her I’ll sue,
That disdains both me and you!
Delay.
Delay! Alas, there cannot be
To Love a greater tyranny:
Those cruel beauties that have slain
Their votaries by their disdain,
Or studied torments sharp and witty.5
Will be recorded for their pity,
And after-ages be misled
To think them kind, when this is spread.
Of deaths the speediest is despair;
Delays the slowest tortures are;10
Thy cruelty at once destroys,
But expectation starves my joys.
Time and Delay may bring me past
The power of Love to cure, at last;
And shouldst thou wish to ease my pain,15
Thy pity might be lent in vain.
Or if thou hast decreed that I
Must fall[36:1] beneath thy cruelty,
O kill me soon! Thou wilt express
More mercy, ev’n in showing less.20