Thomas Stanley: His Original Lyrics, Complete, In Their Collated Readings of 1647, 1651, 1657.: With an Introduction, Textual Notes, a List of Editions, an Appendix of Translations, and a Portrait.Stanley, Thomas
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Thomas Stanley: His Original Lyrics, Complete, In Their Collated Readings of 1647, 1651, 1657.: With an Introduction, Textual Notes, a List of Editions, an Appendix of Translations, and a Portrait.
Stanley, Thomas
English poetry -- Early modern, 1500-1700; Stanley, Thomas, 1625-1678
When, dearest Beauty, thou shalt pay
Thy faith and my vain hope away
To some dull soul that cannot know
The worth of that thou dost bestow;
Lest[53:1] with my sighs and tears I might 5
Disturb thy unconfin'd delight,
To some dark shade I will retire,
And there, forgot by all, expire.
Thus, whilst the difference thou shalt prove
Betwixt a feign'd and real love, 10
Whilst he, more happy, but less true,
Shall reap those joys I did pursue,
And with those pleasures crowned be
By Fate, which Love design'd for me,
Then thou perhaps thyself wilt find 15
Cruel too long, or too soon kind.
SONG.
I will not trust thy tempting graces,
Or thy deceitful charms,
Nor prisoner be to thy embraces,
Or fetter'd in thy arms;
No, Celia, no: not all thy art 5
Can wound or captivate my heart.
I will not gaze upon thy eyes,
Or wanton with thy hair,
Lest those should burn me by surprise,
Or these my soul ensnare; 10
Nor with those smiling dangers play,
Or fool my liberty away.
Since, then, my wary heart is free
And unconfin'd as thine,
If thou wouldst mine should captiv'd[54:1] be, 15
Thou must thine own resign;
And gratitude may thus move more
Than love or beauty could before.
SONG.
No, I will sooner trust the wind,
When, falsely kind,
It courts the pregnant sails into a storm,
And when the smiling waves persuade,
Be willingly betray'd, 5
Than thy deceitful vows or form.
Go, and beguile some easy heart
With thy vain art;
Thy smiles and kisses on those fools bestow
Who only see the calms that sleep 10
On this smooth flattering deep,
But not the hidden dangers know.
They that, like me, thy falsehood prove,
Will scorn thy love,
Some may, deceiv'd at first, adore thy shrine; 15
But he that as thy sacrifice
Doth willingly fall twice,
Dies his own martyr, and not thine.
SONG.
I prithee let my heart alone!
Since now 'tis raised above thee:
Not all the beauty thou dost own
Again can make me love thee.
He that was shipwreck'd once before 5
By such a Siren's call,
And yet neglects to shun the[55:1] shore,
Deserves his second fall!
Each flattering kiss, each tempting smile
Thou dost in vain bestow, 10
Some other lovers might beguile
Who not thy falsehood know.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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