To thee, herself, and many a Christian soul,
[♦] Death, desolation, ruin and decay:
410 It cannot be avoided but by this;
[♦] It will not be avoided but by this.
[♦] Therefore, good mother,—I must call you so—
Be the attorney of my love to her:
Plead what I will be, not what I have been;
[415] Not my deserts, but what I will deserve:
[♦] Urge the necessity and state of times,
[♦] And be not peevish-fond in great designs.