Now, Beauties, I defy your charm,
Rul’d by more powerful art:20
This mystic wreath which crowns my arm
Defends my vanquish’d heart;[47:3]
And I, subdu’d by one more fair, shall be
Secur’d from conquest by captivity.
The Farewell.
Since Fate commands me hence, and I
Must leave my soul with thee, and die,
Dear, spare one sigh, or else let fall
A tear to crown my funeral,
That I may tell my grieved heart5
Thou art unwilling we should part;
And martyrs that embrace the fire
Shall with less joy than I expire.
With this last kiss I will bequeath
My soul, transfus’d into thy breath,10
Whose active heat shall gently slide
Into thy breast, and there reside,
And may, (in spite of Fate thus blest,)
Be, in this death, of heaven possess’d.[48:1]
Then prove but kind; and thou shalt see15
Love hath more power than Destiny.
The Exchange: Dialogue.[49:1]
Phil[ocharis].
That kiss which last thou gav’st me, stole
My fainting life away;
Yet, though to thy breast fled, my soul
Still in mine own doth stay.
|
Weak Nature no such power doth know:5 Love only can these wonders show. | } |
[49:2] |