angry at People let them endeavour never so much to please 'em so we who are naturally amorous cannot avoid being in love with a Lady let her take never so much pains to anger us And indeed Madam did People ground their Passions upon Reason you have given me one of the most reasonable Causes to love you in the World For as there is no Man of Wit but knows himself to be a Fool so he ought to have an Opinion of their Iudgments who find it out as well as himself It is reported as an Instance of the Bravery of the Amazons That they wou'd never marry a Man 'till they had fought with him first and if he beat 'em very much he might expect to be loved very much by them Now I Madam who profess as great a Veneration for Wit as the Amazons had for Courage cannot have so good a Reason for Love as your having exercis'd your Wit upon me Tho' it is possible you may attribute my Passion to another Cause and as you think I love nothing beside my self may have some kindness for you because you are never like to be my Rival however assure your self Madam it is no such thing but knowing the worst you can say of me to be true and having a natural Affection for Truth Wit and Women you will think a Man a very general Lover that can love Truth Wit and Women at the same time I must needs be infinitely in love with you in whom I find 'em altogether Be not however deluded into a better Opinion of me by what any body can say for as it is only your hating me that makes me love you as soon as that ceases I am afraid my Love will do so too As you therefore value my Kindness take heed of having any for me and satisfie your self That as long as you continue to think me a silly idle conceited Fop I shall continue to be with all the Passion imaginable Madam Your c. LETTER IX To a Masqu'd Lady THo' I doubt not Madam but you have made the most considerable Conquests under the Sun yet give me leave to say You never made any so extraordinary as this before You have subdu'd without the Conqueror's common Vanity of making your self known and have gain'd the most absolute Victory in the World without as much as sheaâ—hing your Face I who never knew a Woman cou'd overcome me am now overcome by I know not who And can both boast of the greatest Passion and greatest Faith in Nature together The seeing you which is the reason of other People's Love might for ought I know destroy mine for I have rais'd Idea's of you to which it is very difficult for any thing in Nature to arrive I imagine you the most charming Creature in the Universe and at the same time fansie you to be somewhat more than I imagine I have dress'd you up in all the most different shapes of Natute In whatever you appear it has been always the most amiable And after having supposed you Maid Wife and Widow by turns I ' find I can love you infinitely be you any one of them Did I know in which state you were I wou'd certainly make love to all of it 'till I arriv'd at you and for want of that I am forc'd to confine my self to Womankind I leave it to your own Conscience Madam whether you can leave the most constant Lover in Nature in this Condition tho' if it feel no remorse for the last Disappointment I shall very hardly ever trust it more Yet however extravagant my Passion is do not apprehend that I shou'd make any malicious Reflections on you to the World let my other Vertues be what they will my Fidelity is unquestionable And assure your self there is no Man breathing less apt to tell a Secret that he does not know than Madam Your c. LETTER X. To a Friend SIR FOr Friend I can hardly call you since under that disguise you have done me one of the greatest injuries in the World and it is vain for me to guard my Territories against the malicious Designs of Enemies and Rivals when you whom I never took for either have more prejudiced me in an Amour than they cou'd with all their Forces together But that I may not condemn you without a Cause nor conclude you guilty 'till I hear what you can say in your own Iustification I will give you a plain account of the Business Meeting one of the Ladies last Night with whom I am in love she began a discourse of Lovers wherein she shew'd the many inconveniencies that attended the having a Man of Wit in that Capacity I who do not naturally love to dispute with a fair Lady especially in a Cause where I thought my self no more concern'd than if she had talk'd of Iews or Mahometans agreed with her in all she said when she turn'd briskly upon me and told me For that Reason a Woman must have a care of having any thing to do with me I told her that was acting after the manner of some late Iudges call a thing Treason without Law and then hang a Man for it without Proof That I appeal'd to all the World for my Innocence in the matter and defied my greatest Enemies to bring any Evidence of my guilt She told me she had it from such a one who had it from another and that in fine the original Author of this Calumny was your self Now tho' I grant you that some People might have said such a thing as this out of Inadvertency yet I can hardly believe a Man of your Prudence to have done it upon that account You who very well know That to commend a Man for a Wit to the Women is like commending him for a good Protestant to the Fathers of the Inquisition and he that reported me an Eunuch among 'em cou'd not do it upon a more malicious account They love a tame easie governable Fool and fansie all Wits ill-natur'd and proud Have not you often told me so and after that to put me upon 'em for one Well Sir I am a Gentleman nor shall I pass by such a thing as this without satisfaction I expect therefore you shou'd either give it me under your Hand That you never said any such thing of me or if you really said it That you shou'd go immediately to the Person to whom you did it and assure 'em you were misinform'd in the thing and that to your knowledge Ireland it self never bred a more tame easie fool than I am for here lies the greatest danger I have gotten a Rival of that Country and you know how difficult it is to succeed in a Contest with one of them when want of Wit to give is the preference After all methinks if you wou'd be hearty in the thing you may bring me out of these Difficulties I know you have Wit enough to convince 'em that I have none and if the worst come to
too much before IV. Think not false Nymph my Fury to out-storm I scorn your Anger and despise your Frown Dress up your Rage in its most hideous form It will not move my Heart when Love is flown No tho' you from my Kindness fly My Vengeance you shall satisfie The Muse that wou'd have sung your Praise shall now aloud proclaim To the malicious spiteful World your Infamy and Shame V. Ye Gods she weeps behold that falling Show'r See how her Eyes are quite dissolv'd in Tears Can she in vain that precious Torrent pour Oh no it bears away my Doubts and Fears 'T was Pity sure that made it flow For the same Pity stop it now For every charming heavenly Drop that from those Eyes does part Is paid with Streams of Blood that gush from my o'er-flowing Heart VI. Yes I will love I will believe you true And raise my Passions up as high as e'er Nay I 'll believe you false yet love you too Let the least sign of Penitence appear I 'll frame Excuses for your Fault Think you surpriz'd or meanly caught Nay in the fury in the heighth of that abhorr'd Embrace Believe you thought believe at least you wish'd me in the place VII Oh let me lie whole Ages in those Arms And on that Bosom lull asleep my Cares Forgive those foolish Fears of fansy'd Harms That stab my Soul while they but move thy Tears And think unless I lov'd thee still I had not treated thee so ill For these rude Pangs of Iealousie are much more certain signs Of Love than all the tender Words an amorous Fancy coins VIII Torment me with this horrid Rage no more Oh smile and grant one reconciling Kiss Ye Gods she 's kind I 'm ecstasie all o'er My Soul 's too narrow to contain the Bliss Thou pleasing Torture of my Breast Sure thou wert fram'd to plague my Rest Since both the Ill and Good you do alike my Peace destroy That kills me with excess of Grief This with excess of Ioy. Cure of Iealousie WHat Tortures can there be in Hell Compar'd to what fond Lovers feel When doating on some fair One's Charms They think she yields 'em to their Rivals Arms As Lions tho' they once were tame Yet if sharp Wounds their Rage enflame Lift up their stormy Voices roar And tear the Keepers they obey'd before So fares the Lover when his Breast By jealous Frenzie is possest Forswears the Nymph for whom he burns Yet strait to her whom he forswears returns But when the Fair resolves his Doubt The Love comes in the Fear goes out The Cloud of Iealousie 's dispell'd And the bright Sun of Innocence reveal'd With what strange Rapture 's is he blest Raptures too great to be exprest Tho' hard the Torment 's to endure Who wou'd not have the Sickness for the Cure SONNET Death WHat has this Bugbear Death that 's worth our Care After a Life in Pain and Sorrow past After deluding Hope and dire Despair Death only gives us Quiet at the last How strangely are our Love and Hate misplac'd Freedom we seek and yet from Freedom flee Courting those Tyrant-Sins that chain us fast And shunning Death that only sets us free 'T is not a foolish fear of future Pains Why shou'd they fear who keep their Souls from Stains That makes me dread thy Terrors Death to see 'T is not the Loss of Riches or of Fame Or the vain Toys the Vulgar Pleasures name 'T is nothing Caelia but the losing thee ELEGY To his false Mistress CAElia your Tricks will now no longer pass And I 'm no more the Fool that once I was I know my happier Rival does obtain All the vast Bliss for which I sigh in vain Him him you love to me you use your Art I had your Looks another had your Heart To me y' are sick to me of Spies afraid He finds your Sickness gone your Spies betray'd I figh beneath your Window all the Night He in your Arms possesses the Delight I know you treat me thus false Fair I do And oh what plagues me worse he knows it too To him my Sighs are told my Letters shown And all my Pains are his Diversion grown Yet since you cou'd such horrid Treasons act I 'm pleas'd you chose out him to do the Fact His Vanity does for my Wrongs attone And 'c is by that I have your Falshood known What shall I do for treated at this rate I must not love and yet I cannot hate I hate the Actions but I love the Face Oh were thy Vertue more or Beauty less I 'm all Confusion and my Soul 's on fire Torn by contending Reason and Desire This bids me love that bids me Love give o'er One counsels best the other pleases more I know I ought to hate you for your Fault But oh I cannot do the thing I ought Canst thou mean Wretch canst thou contented prove With the cold Relicks of a Rival's Love Why did I see that Face to charm my Breast Or having seen why did I know the rest Gods if I have obey'd your just Commands If I 've deserv'd some Favour of your hands Make me that tame that easie Fool again And rid me of my Knowledge and my Pain And you false Fair for whom so oft I 've griev'd Pity a Wretch that begs to be deceiv'd Forswear your self for one who dies for you Vow not a word of the whole Charge was true But Scandals all and Forgeries devis'd By a vain Wretch neglected and despis'd I too will help to forward the Deceit And to my power contribute to the Cheat. And thou bold Man who think'st to rival me For thy Presumption I cou'd pardon thee I cou'd forgive thy lying in her Arms I cou'd forgive thy rifling all her Charms But oh I never can forgive the Tongue That boasts her Favours and proclaims my Wrong Upon the same Occasion WHat Fury does disturb my Rest What Hell is this within my Breast Now I abhorr and now I love And each an equal Torment prove I see Celinda's Cruelty I see she loves all Men but me I see her Falshood see her Pride I see ten thousand Faults beside I see she sticks at nought that 's ill Yet oh ye Powers I love her still Others on Precipices run Which blind with Love they cannot shun I see my Danger see my Ruine Yet seek yet court my own undoing And each new Reason I explore To hate her makes me love her more The Antidote WHen I see the bright Nymph who my Heart does enthral When I view her soft Eyes and her languishing Air Her Merit so great my own Merit so small It makes me adore and it makes me despair But when I consider that she squanders on Fools All those Treasures of Beauty with which she is stor'd My Fancy it damps my Passion it cools And it makes me despise what before I ador'd Thus sometimes I despair and sometimes I despise I love and I hate but I never esteem
The Passion grows up when I view her bright Eyes Which my Rival's destroy when I look upon them How wisely does Nature things so diff'rent unite In such odd Compositions our safety is found As the Blood of the Scorpion is a Cure for the Bite So her Folly makes whole whom her Beauty does wound Upon a Favour offer'd CAElia too late you wou'd repent The off'ring all your store Is now but like a Pardon sent To one that 's dead before While at the first you cruel prov'd And grant the Bliss too late You hinder'd me of one I lov'd To give me one I hate I thought you innocent as fair When first my court I made But when your Falshoods plain appear My Love no longer stay'd Your Bounty of those Favours shown Whose Worth you first deface Is melting valu'd Medals down And giving us the Brass Oh since the thing we beg's a Toy That 's priz'd by Love alone Why cannot Women grant the Ioy Before our Love is gone The Reconcilement BE gone ye Sighs be gone ye Tears Be gone ye Iealousies and Fears Celinda swears she never lov'd Celinda swears none ever mov'd Her Heart but I if this be true Shall I keep company with you What tho'a senceless Rival swore She said as much to him before What though I saw him in her Bed I 'll trust not what I saw but what she said Curse on the Prudent and the Wise Who ne'er believe such pleasing Lyes I grant she only does deceive I grant'tis Folly to believe But by this Folly I vast Pleasures gain While you with all your Wisdom live in Pain DIALOGUE Between a Lover and his Friend Irregular Verses Friend VAlue thy self fond Youth no more On Favours Mulus had before He had her first her Virgin Flame You like a bold Intruder came To the cold Relicks of a Feast When he at first had seiz'd the best Lover When he dull Sot had seiz'd the worse I came in at the Second Course 'T is Chance that first makes People love Iudgment their riper Francies move Mulus you say first charm'd her Eyes First she lov'd Babies and Dirt-Pies But she grew wiser and in time Found out the folly of those Toys and him Friend If Wisdom change in Love begets Women no doubt are wondrous Wits But Wisdom that now makes her change to you In time will make her change to others too Lover I grant you no Man can forsee his Doom But shall I grieve because an ill may come Yet I 'll allow her Change when she can see A Man deserves her more than me As much as I deserve her more than he Friend Did they with our own Eyes see our Desert No Woman e'er cou'd from her Lover part But oh they see not with their own All things to them are through false Opticks shown Love at the first does all your Charms encrease When the Tube's turn'd Hate represents'em less Lover Whate'er may come I will not grieve For Dangers that I can't believe She 'll ne'er cease loving me or if she do 'T is ten to one I cease to love her too EPIGRAM LYCE. GO said old Lyce senceless Lover go And with soft Verses court the Fair but know With all thy Verses thou canst get no more Than Fools without one Verse have had before Enrag'd at this upon the Bawd I flew And that which most enrag'd me was 't was true The fair Mourner IN what sad Pomp the mournful Charmer lies Does she lament the Victim of her Eyes Or wou'd she Hearts with soft Compassion move To make 'em take the deeper stamp of Love What Youth so wise so wary to escape When Rigour comes drest up in Pity 's shape Let not in vain those precious Tears be shed Pity the Dying fair One not the Dead While you unjustly of the Fates complain I grieve as much for you as much in vain Each to relentless Iudges make their moan Blame not Death's Cruelty but cease you own While raging Passion both out Souls does wound A soveraign Balm might sure for both be found Wou'd you but wipe your fruitless Tears away And with a just Compassion mine survey EPIGRAM To his false Mistress THou saidst that I alone thy Heart cou'd move And that for me thou wou'dst abandon Iove I lov'd thee then not with a love defil'd But as a Father loves his only Child I know thee now and tho' I fiercelier burn Thou art become the Object of my Scorn See what thy Falshood gets I must confess I love thee more but I esteem the less EPIGRAM Love and Iealousie HOw much are they deceiv'd who vainly strive By jealous Fears to keep our Flames alive Love 's like a Torch which if secur'd from Blasts Will faintlier burn but then it longer lasts Expos'd to storms of Iealousie and Doubt The Blaze grows greater but 't is sooner out ELEGY The Petition In imitation of Catullus IS there a pious Pleasure that proceeds From contemplation of our vertuous Deeds That all mean sordid Actions we despise And scorn to gain a Throne by Cheats and Lyes Thyrsis thou hast sure Blessings laid in store From thy just dealing in this curst Amour What Honour can in Words or Deeds be shown Which to the Fair thou hast not said and done On her false Heart they all are thrown away She only swears more eas'ly to betray Ye Powers that know the many Vows she broke Free my just Soul from this unequal Yoke My Love boils up and like a raging Flood Runs through my Veins and taints my Vital Blood I do not vainly beg she may grow chaste Or with an equal Passion burn at last The one she cannot practise tho' she wou'd And I contemn the other tho' she shou'd Nor ask I Vengeance on the perjur'd Iilt 'T is punishment enough to have her Guilt I beg but Balsam for my bleeding Breast Cure for my Wounds and from my Labours rest ELEGY Upon quitting his Mistress I Know Celinda I have born too long And by forgiving have encreas'd my Wrong Yet if there be a Power in Verse to slack Thy course in Vice or bring fled Vertue back I 'll undertake the Task howe'er so hard A gen'rous Action is its own Reward Oh! were thy Vertues equal to thy Charms I 'd fly from Crowns to live within those Arms But who oh who can e'er believe thee just When such known Falshoods have destroy'd all Trust Farewel salse Fair nor shall I longer stay Since we must part why shou'd we thus delay Your Love alone was what my Soul cou'd prize And missing that can all the rest despise Yet shou'd I not repent my Follies past Cou'd you take up and grow reserv'd at last ' Twou'd please me parted from your fatal Charms To see you happy in another's Arms. Whatever Threatnings Fury might extort Oh fear not I shou'd ever do you hurt For tho' my former Passion is remov'd I wou'd not injure one I once had lov'd Adieu While thus I waste
LETTERS AND POEMS AMOROUS AND GALLANT LONDON Printed for Iacob Tonson at the Iudge's-Head in Chancery-Lane near Fleet-Street 1692. PREFACE IT has been so usual among modern Authors to write Prefaces that a Man is thought rude to his Reader who does not give him some Account before hand of what he is to expect in the Book That which may make somewhat of this kind more necessary in my Case than others is That a great part of this Collection consists of familiar Letters which sort of Writings some Learned Persons among us have thought unfit to be publish'd It must be confess'd indeed that a great Beauty of Letters does often consist in little Passages of private Conversation and references to particular Matters that can be understood by none but those to whom they are written But to draw a general Conclusion from thence That familiar Letters can please none but those very Persons is to conclude against the common Experience of all the World since besides the great applauses have been given the Letters of Cicero and Pliny among the Romans we see no Book has been better received among the Spaniards than the Letters of Guevara or among the French than those of Voiture and Balsac Not to mention the Italians among whom there has been hardly any considerable Man who has not publish'd Letters with good Success What may have contributed very much to the kind Reception these things have met is that there is no sort of Writing so necessary for People to understand as this A Man may have a great deal of Wit without being able to write Verses or make Harangues and may live in very good repute without having occasion of doing either But a Man can hardly live in the World without being able to write Letters There is no state of Life in which a Faculty of that kind is not requisite and there are few Days pass in which a Man has not occasion to make use of it The Stile of Letters ought to be free easy and natural as near approaching to familiar Conversation as possible The two best Qualities in Conversation are good Humour and good Breeding those Letters are therefore certainly the best that shew the most of those two Qualities There are some Men so surly so ill natur'd and so ill-bred that tho' we can hardly deny 'em to have Wit yet we can say at least that we are sorry they have it And indeed as their Wit is troublesome to other People so I can hardly imagine of what great use it can be to themselves For if the end of Wit be not to render one self agreeable I shall scarce envy 'em any other use they can make of it The second Part of this Collection consists of Amorous Verses Those who are conversant with the Writings of the Antients will observe a great difference between what they and the Moderns have publish'd upon this Subject The occasions upon which the Poems of the former are written are such as happen to every Man almost that is in Love and the Thoughts such as are natural for every Man in love to think The Moderns on the other hand have sought out for Occasions that none meet with but themselves and fill their Verses with thoughts that are surprizing and glittering but not tender passionate or natural to a Man in Love To judge which of these two are in the right we ought to consider the end that People propose in writing Love-Verses And that I take not to be the getting Fame or Admiration from the World but the obtaining the Love of their Mistress and the best way I conceive to make her love you is to convince her that you love her Now this certainly is not to be done by forc'd Conceits far fetch'd Similes and shining Points but by a true and lively Representation of the Pains and Thoughts attending such a Passion Si vis me flere dolendum est laedent Primum ipsitibi tunc tua me infortunia I would assoon believe a Widow in great grief for her Husband because I saw her dance a Corant about his Coffin as believe a Man in Love with his Mistress for his writing such Verses as some great Modern Wits have done upon theirs I am satisfied that Catullus Tibullus Propertius and Ovid were in love with their Mistresses while they upbraid them quarrel with them threaten them and forswear them but I confess I cannot believe Petrarch in Love with his when he writes Conceits upon her Name her Gloves and the place of her Birth I know it is natural for a Lover in Transports of Iealousie to treat his Mistress with all the Violence imaginable but I cannot think it natural for a Man who is much in Love to amuse himself with such Trifles as the other I am pleas'd with Tibullus when he says he could live in a Desart with his Mistress where never any Humane Foost-steps appear'd because I doubt not but he really thinks what he says but I confess I can hardly for bear laughing when Petrarch tells us he could live without any other sustenance than his Mistresses Looks I can very easily believe a Man may love a Woman so well as to desire no Company but hers but I can never believe a Man can love a Woman so well as to have no need of Meat and Drink if he may look upon her The first is a Thought so natural for a Lover that there is no Man really in Love but thinks the same thing the other is not the thought of a Man in Love but of a Man who would impose upon us with a pretended Love and that indeed very grosly too while he had really none at all It would be endless to pursue this Point and any Man who will but give himself the trouble to compare what the Ancients and Moderns have said upon the same Occasions will soon perceive the advantage the former have over the others I have chosen to mention Petrarch only as being by much the most famous of all the Moderns who have written Love-Verses And it is indeed the great Reputation which he has gotten that has given Encouragement to this false sort of Wit in the World for People seeing the great Credit he had and has indeed to this day not only in Italy but over all Europe have satisfied themselves with the Imitation of him never enquiring whether the way he took was the right or not There are no Modern Writers perhaps who have succeeded better in Love-Verses than the English and it is indeed just that the fairest Ladies should inspire the best Poets Never was there a more copious Fancy or greater reach of Wit than what appears in Dr. Donne nothing can be more gallant or gentile than the Poems of Mr. Waller nothing more gay or sprightly than those of Sir Iohn Suckling and nothing fuller of Variety and Learning than Mr. Cowley's However it may be observ'd that among all these that Softness Tenderness and Violence of
Amorous LETTER I. To two Masques THough I cannot boast much of Particularity to the Person I love yet as to the Love it self I may safely say It is one of the most particular under the Sun Others think it enough to fall in love with a Lady after having seen her I am in love with two without having ever seen either Not that I would willingly admit two Tyrants into my Heart but though one of you may perhaps be Monarch there yet neither you nor I knowing which it is the matter must rest in doubt 'till another opportunity For he who condemned Paris as too bold a Man in daring to judge of the three Goddesses Beauties when he saw 'em naked would have thought me a bold one indeed if I shou'd pretend to make a Iudgment between two Ladies in Masques Consider a little under what difficulties you make me labour If I shou'd commend the Colour of your Hair and it was all the while deep red the smoothness and delicacy of your Skins when they were rough and tawney the fineness of your Shapes while you were stuck up within Iron Bodice the brightness of your Eyes and they shou'd prove blear'd and squinting Do but imagine when I had done this what sort of an Effect it wou'd have upon you Whatever Inconveniences of this nature happen it is your own Faults for my part I leave this encountring with Helmets over their Faces to Sir Amadis and his Knights Errant the way of Duelling is alter'd People do not only encounter barefac'd but strip when they go to it As for this way I can assure you I find it not in the least fair and had rather be in love with the most hard-hearted Beauty living than continue in this uncertain state and neither know what I love why I love nor whether I love or no. Take pity Ladies upon a Lover in distress clear the Business to me and let me know if I am in good earnest when I profess my self Your most passionate Admirer LETTER II. To one of the former IT is by Faith alone that I fansie you the most charming but I find by Experience you are one of the most unreasonable Ladies under the Sun I concluded I had done the boldest Action in the World to declare a Passion to two Masques but you Madam set up a Title of your own and are not satisfied without Particularity and Constancy Your Charms I confess Madam as far as I saw of them are very great The Masque was very good Genoa Velvet the Gloves very good Blois Gloves and the Hackney Coach for ought I know lin'd with very good green Plush Now Madam though so far I do stedfastly believe yet to fall constantly and particularly in love with Masques Gloves or Hackney-Coaches is what I do not find a Precedent for in any of the French Romances and being naturally diffident of my self I shou'd be loth to begin a new sort of Gallantry without knowing how it wou'd take Consider Madam a little better upon the reasonableness of your Request for Particularity and Constancy are very hardly to be answer'd for at our Years It is I doubt not Madam in your power to blow my Love up to that heighth whenever you please and to confess a truth to you I have a very great Stock of Particularity and Constancy lying upon my Hands at this time and know not how to apply it I have all the reason in the World to imagine it is kept for you but however Madam it wou'd be necessary to have one view of you before I can be positive in that point I am satisfied in my Conscience that I have done all my Duty in the thing let it lie at your Door if the Humour break off for my part I cannot imagine how you will be able to answer it to all the World if you shou'd for want of discovering your self lose the most constant and most faithful Lover under the Sun LETTER III. To the same Constancy and Fidelity are without doubt great Vertues though not always great Charms in a Mistress but as to your Invisibility it is a Quality that does not please me at all I grant you Madam it is a pretty aëreal sort of Beauty and may do very well for spiritual Lovers but for me Madam who am a little embarass'd with matter and who generally carry a Body of six foot long about with me it wou'd be convenient to have some more corporeal Accomplishments Descend Madam in this case to your Lover's Capacity and make use of his Senses to represent you as charming as without doubt you are to his Imagination For though I must confess Fancy has been very kind to you in this point yet it wou'd be convenient to call in the Help of the Eyes to strengthen the Evidence I expect therefore from your next Letter an appointment where I may meet you in a visible manner These are the only Terms upon which I can treat any farther with you for tho' you write the most agreeably in the World yet you must certainly own that after having been monstrously in love for a whole Week together it is very reasonable that a Man shou'd know at last with whom it is LETTER IV. To the same YEs really Madam I think you are in the right of it Hanging and Drowning are such vulgar ways of Dying that for my part I wou'd rather live a thousand Years than make use of either Then Madam they are the most inconvenient Methods in the World Drowning will spoil your Clothes and Hanging your Complexion besides several other things that might be said to dissuade you from it but that I know a word to the Wise is enough I am of Opinion you had better deferr all sort of dying 'till another Opportunity though if you are positive in it I wou'd rather recommend Mr. Boyle's Air-Pump as a newer Invention or being poisoned in Perfumes as somewhat that looks pleasant enough But to be less serious Madam make no doubt of your own Perfections and reckon that in having me you have the most reasonable Lover of an unreasonable Lover in the World I confess were I to form a Beauty to my self she shou'd be let me consider a little upon it she shou'd be I protest Madam I know not what she shou'd be monstrously in love with me that is certain for the rest I shou'd trust the Stars I think I may say without Flattery I love my self so well that I can love any body else that does so too and shou'd preferr that single Beauty of an immoderate Passion for me in a Mistress to all the other Charms in the World as Bayes does the single beating of Armies in his Hero to all the Moral Vertues put together If you can answer for this Charm Madam take no care for any other he must be unreasonable indeed who is not satisfied with that in a Lady of Sixteen LETTER V. To the fair Unbeliever ST Ierome says St. Ierome I
from an ancient Greek Manuscript whose Author was intimately acquainred with Endymion and protests That he never saw a Man less apt to bark at People in his Life than he was But if all the little Currs of the Town have always bark'd at the Moon it is very hard that Endymion who was never known to bark at any body must be supposed the Author of all that Noise But pray Madam inform your self a little better from the Author of what follows Was there ever any Mouse or was there any Fable wherein there was a Mouse did plead He had deserv'd t' aspire to Princess Bed For if the thing be really true it was the most impudent Mouse that ever I heard of and we must both the Clerk and I agree with the Author in the just resentment he shews for so horrible a Presumption But to be a little more serious Madam Tho' I can allow a Iest as far as any body yet I wou'd not have People imagine I shall bear such things as these You may advise the Author therefore for his own sake to keep his Name conceal'd How great soever his Quality may be for if I can guess at all at him he 's a Person of considerable Quality let him not imagine that shall protect him from my Revenge Had the Great Mogul written such a Copy of Verses against me not that I have any particular Pique to the Great Mogul without any respect at all to his Quality I wou'd have printed the Verses and put his Name to ' em However Madam in the midst of my Fury he shall see how much more like a Christian I treat him than he has done me For tho' he has maliciously insinuated That Mr. Dryden writes for me and that I am covetous of M. L. D.'s Company yet I must do him the justice to declare I do not in the least believe Mr. Dryden has any hand in his Works or that he ever found any great Satisfaction in the Conversation of M. L. D. I am Madam Your c. The Clerk presents his Service to the Author and has written the Enclosed which he desires may be delivered to him LETTER XX. To the most Noble Author of that incomparable Poem on the Author of a Dialogue concerning Women c. Most Noble Sir YOu cannot imagine with what unexpressible satisfaction I read over your late Poem It pleases me extreamly to see that notwithstanding the Endeavours of our Enemies the Wits there are still some generous Spirits who tread in the Steps of our Predecessors and imitate those hidden Graces that lie undiscover'd in the Works of Mr. Thomas Sternhold and Mr. Robert Wisdom of Blessed Memory I have seen several modern Lampoons that have gone some steps towards it but I may say without flattery I have seen no Man who has gone so far in it as your self And whereas most of the Pieces now in vogue are dull flat things taken from the Ancients Yours is brisk sharp and all your own Envy it self cannot say you have stoln one good thing from any body and truly I think it will be very difficult for any Man to steal one from you There is a Saying of Virgil's concerning Homer for I wou'd scorn to compare such a Poet as you to any thing less than Homer That it was casier to take the Club from Hercules than a Verse from him What was perhaps but a Compliment when said of Homer's Verses may with a great deal of Iustice be affirmed of your Iests I do no less approve your Generosity in undertaking the Moon 's Cause than your Address in the management of it I fansie if your Modesty wou'd give you leave to own it you are deeper in her Favour than ever Endymion was At least all the World must own she has a very great influence upon you and I fansie your Fit of Poetry comes upon you when she is at the full No more at present but that with all due Respects to her and the Mouse presented I remain Yours while W. S. LETTER XXI To a Friend Written from the Country THe Dialogues of Plato with your last Letter have quite turn'd my Head What delicacy of Invention What sublimity of Thought I talk no more of Women of Gallantry I think of nothing but Philosophy and Seraphick Love Oh Vanity of Pomp of Glory of Trifles falsly called Pleasures They appear beautiful to the sight but once tasted they leave nothing but Shame Sorrow and Repentance Let us give others leave to play the Fool while we enjoy the sweetness of Philosophy O charming Quiet Oh dear Repose Oh Life truly celestial Mounted upon the lofty tops of Philosophy we regard at our ease the Vanity the Folly the Madness of the World The greatest Cities appear nothing but great Herds of Madmen so many Men so many Follies Suave mari magno turbantibus aethera ventis Eterrâ magnum alterius spectare laborem Sed nil dulcius est bene quam munita tenere Edita doctrinâ sapientum templa serena Despicere unde queas alios passimque videre Errare atque vias palantes quaerere vitae The Soul of Man according to Plato has two Wings the one coelestial with which she flies up to the Empyreal Heaven the other terrestrial which pulls her down to the Earth again It is the first of these that raises you to those lofty divine Paths reach'd by none but the greatest Wits the noblest Souls The other brings Men down to the things of this World to Vanity to Sin to Marriage Poor Husbands you have truly observ'd how soon Beauty flies away but alas Love flies away much sooner Uncomplaisant Companion that he is who tho' he comes with Beauty will not stay with it Great Politicians without doubt these Husbands who suffer an eternal slavery for a thing of so little duration But what signifies that to us Let us leave 'em in peace if there be any such thing as Peace in Marriage and love me as I love you LETTER XXII To the same From London IT is so long since I wrote to you that I am almost asham'd of doing it now But to say the truth I have too just an Excuse for my neglect being relaps'd into my former malady and notwithstanding all the Assistance of Philosophy fallen in love ten times more than ever I am asham'd to tell you how long I have been so but I am ten times more asham'd to tell you I do not yet find the least decay in my Passion tho' I have reason enough to believe the Lady did not care tho' she saw me hanging up at her Gate Well we may put as good a face upon the matter as we will but first or last I see Constancy comes upon us all In the humor I am at present I had a good mind to forswear ever being in love again And yet upon better thoughts I think I had as good try it once more For of three Amours I have had in my Life-time
as for Amourettes those are not worth mentioning I valu'd the one Mistress after I left loving her I loved another after I left valuing her I love and value the third after having lost all hopes of her So that methinks according to the course of my Passions I ought to love and value the next after having obtained her However from this time forward upon what Follies soever you fall be pleased for my sake to spare those of love being very well satisfied there is not one Folly of that kind except Marriage which I have not already committed I have been without raillery in love with the Beauty of a Woman whom I have never seen with the Wit of one whom I have never heard speak nor seen any thing that she has written and with the Heroick Vertues of a Woman without knowing any one Action of her Life that cou'd make me think she had any Considering how very common these Qualities are I suppose you will not ask me if I have ever been mistaken I know not what you think in the Country but for my part I am of Opinion a Man must resolve to abandon Women or Philosophy entirely for they will never agree well together After an absence of five or six Months from Town I find the Ladies still the same that is to say still various Those who were in love when I went from hence are in love still but they are in love with other Men. They are constant to Love but inconstant to the Lovers And in this point to speak the truth among Friends I think there is no great difference between the two Sexes The Men complain of the Women's inconstancy and the Women of the Men's for my part being unwilling to disoblige either I am very apt to agree with both But Cupid will have it so and what can weak Mortals do against so potent a God Adieu live pleasantly that is philosophically and guard your Heart from the Pains of Love POEMS POEMS To his Book GO little Book and to the World impart The faithful Image of an am'rous Heart Those who Love's dear deluding Pains have known May in my fatal Stories read their own Those who have liv'd from all its Torments free May find the thing they never felt by me Perhaps advis'd avoid the gilded Bait And warn'd by my Example shun my Fate While with calm Ioy safe landed on the Coast I view the Waves on which I once was tost Love is a medley of Endearments Iars Suspicions Quarrels Reconcilements Wars Then Peace again Oh! wou'd it not be best To chase the fatal Poison from our Breast But since so few can live from Passion free Happy the Man and only happy he Who with such lucky Stars begins his love That his cool Iudgment does his Choice approve Ill grounded Passions quickly wear away What 's built upon Esteem can ne'er decay ELEGY The unrewarded Lover LEt the dull Merchant curse his angry Fate And from the Winds and Waves his Fortune wait Let the loud Lawyer break his Brains and be A Slave to wrangling Coxcombs for a Free Let the rough Souldier fight his Prince's Foes And for a Livelihood his Life expose I wage no War I plead no Cause but Love's I fear no Storms but what Celinda moves And what grave Censor can my Choice despise But here fair Charmer here the diff'rence lies The Merchant after all his Hazards past Enjoys the fruit of his long Toils at last The Soldier high in his King's Favour stands And after having long obey'd commands The Lawyer to reward his tedious Care Roars on the Bench that babbled at the Barr While I take pains to meet a Fate more hard And reap no Fruit no Favour no Reward EPIGRAM Written in a Lady's Table-Book WIth what strange Raptures wou'd my Soul be blest Were but her Book an Emblem of her Breast As I from that all former Marks efface And uncontroul'd put new ones in their place So might I chase all others from her Heart And my own Image in the stead impart But ah how short the Bliss wou'd prove if he Who seiz'd it next might do the same by me ELEGY The Power of Verse To his Mistress WHile those bright Eyes subdue where-e'er you will And as you please can either save or kill What Youth so bold the Conquest to design What Wealth so great to purchase Hearts like thine None but the Muse that Privilege can claim And what you give in Love return in Fame Riches and Titles with your Life must end Nay cannot even in Life your Fame desend Verse can give Fame can fading Beauties save And after Death redeem'em from the Grave Embalm'd in Verse through distant Times they come Preserv'd like Bees within an Amber Tomb. Poets like Monarchs on an Eastern Throne Restrain'd by nothing but their Will alone Here can cry up and there as boldly blame And as they please give Infamy or Fame In vain the Tyrian Queen resigns her Life For the bright Glory of a spotless Wife If lying Bards may false Amours rehearse And blast her Name with arbitrary Verse While one who all the absence of her Lord Had her wide Courts with pressing Lovers stor'd Yet by a Poet grac'd in deathless Rhimes Stands a chaste Pattern to succeeding Times With pity then the Muses Friends survey Nor think your Favours there are thrown away Wisely like Seed on fruitful Soil they 're thrown To bring large Crops of Glory and Renown For as the Sun that in the Marshes breeds Nothing but nauseous and unwholesome Weeds With the same Rays on rich and pregnant Earth To pleasant Flowers and useful Fruits gives birth So Favours cast on Fools ' get only Shame On Poets shed produce eternal Fame Their gen'rous Breasts warm with a genial Fire And more than all the Muses can inspire Iealousie I. WHo cou'd more happy who more blest cou'd live Than they whom kind whom am'rous Passions move What Crowns what Empires greater Ioys cou'd give Than the soft Chains the slavery of Love Were not the Bliss too often crost By that unhappy vile Distrust That gnawing Doubt that anxious Fear that dange rous Malady That terrible tormenting Rage that Madness Iea lousie II. In vain Celinda boasts she has been true In vain she swears she keeps untouch'd her Charms Dire Iealousie does all my Pains renew And represents her in my Rival's Arms. His Sighs I hear his Looks I view I see her damn'd Advances too I see her smile I see her kiss and oh methinks I see Her give up all those Ioys to him she shou'd reserve for me III. Ingrateful fair One canst thou hear my Groans Canst thou behold these Tears that fill my Eyes And yet unmov'd by all my Pains my Moans Into another's Arms resign my Prize If Merit cou'd not gain your Love My Sufferings might your Pity move Might hinder you from adding thus by jealous Frenzies more New Pangs to one whom hopeless Love had plagu'd