DAMON. Oh, happy Thyrsis, how thy lot doth move My soul to envy! rightly, for I know That it doth rise all lovers' lots above. Absence alone displeaseth thee, and so Firm and secure thou hast in Love a stay Wherewith thy soul rejoiceth 'midst its woe. Alas! where'er I go I fall a prey Beneath the chilly scornful hand of fear, Or with its cruel lance disdain doth slay! Count life as death; although it doth appear Living to thee, 'tis like a lamp that dies And as it dies, the flame burneth more clear. My wearied soul doth not in time that flies, Nor in the means that absence offers, find Its consolation 'midst its miseries. THYRSIS. Love that is firm and pure hath ne'er declined Through bitter absence; rather memory Fosters its growth by faith within the mind. The perfect lover sees no remedy Relief unto the loving load to give, However short or long the absence be. For memory, which only doth perceive What Love hath set within the soul, doth show The lovèd image to the mind alive. And then in soothing silence makes him know His fortune, good or ill, as from her eye A loving or a loveless glance doth go. And if thou markest that I do not sigh, 'Tis that my Phyllis doth my singing guide, Here in my breast my Phyllis I descry. DAMON. If in her lovely face thou hadst espied Signs of displeasure when thou didst depart Far from the joy that thee hath satisfied, Full well I know, my Thyrsis, that thine heart Would be as full as mine of bitter woe-- Love's bliss was thine, but mine Love's cruel smart-- THYRSIS. With words like these I pass the time, and so, Damon, I temper absence's extreme, And gladly do remain, or come, or go. For she who was from birth a living theme, Type of the deathless beauty in the skies, Worthy of marble, temple, diadem, Even my Phyllis, blinds th' covetous eyes, With her rare virtue and her modest zeal, So that I fear not; none will wrest the prize. The strait subjection that my soul doth feel Before hers, and the purpose raised on high, That in her worship doth its goal reveal, And more, the fact that Phyllis knows that I Love her, and doth return my love--all these Banish my grief and bring felicity.