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Thy virgin foftnefs haft thou e'er bewail'd;
As Reafon yielded, and as Love prevail'd?
And wept the potent God's refistlefs dart,
His killing pleasure, his ecftatic fmart,

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And heavenly poison thrilling through thy heart?
If fo, with pity view my wretched state;
At least deplore, and then forget my fate:
To fome more happy Knight reserve thy charms;
By Fortune favour'd, and fuccefsful arms:
And only, as the fun's revolving ray
Brings back each year this melancholy day,
Permit one figh, and fet apart one tear,
To an abandon'd exile's endless care.
For me, alas! out-caft of human race,
Love's anger only waits, and dire disgrace;
For lo! thefe hands in murther are imbrued;
These trembling feet by Juftice are purfued:
Fate calls aloud, and haftens me away;
A fhameful death attends my longer stay;
And I this night must fly from thee and love,
Condemn'd in lonely woods, a banish'd man, to rove.
EMMA.

What is our blifs, that changeth with the moon;
And day of life, that darkens ere 'tis noon?
What is true paffion, if unbleft it dies?
And where is Emma's joy, if Henry flies?
If love, alas! be pain; the pain I bear
No thought can figure, and no tongue declare.
Ne'er faithful woman felt, nor false one feign'd,
The flames which long have in my bofom reign'd:

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The God of Love himself inhabits there,
With all his rage, and dread, and grief, and care,
His complement of ftores, and total war.

O! cease then coldly to fuspect my love;
And let my deed at least my faith approve.
Alas! no youth shall my endearments share ;
Nor day nor night fhall interrupt my care;
No future ftory fhall with truth upbraid
The cold indifference of the Nut-brown Maid;
Nor to hard banishment shall Henry run;
While careless Emma fleeps on beds of down.
View me refolv'd, where-e'er thou lead'ft, to go,
Friend to thy pain, and partner of thy woe;
For I atteft fair Venus and her fon,

That I, of all mankind, will love but thee alone.
HENRY.

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Let prudence yet obstruct thy venturous way;
And take good heed, what men will think and fay:
That beauteous Emma vagrant courses took ;
Her father's houfe and civil life forfook;
That, full of youthful blood, and fond of man,
She to the wood-land with an exile ran.
Reflect, that leffen'd fame is ne'er regain'd;
And virgin honour, once, is always ftain'd:
Timely advis'd, the coming evil fhun:
Better not do the deed, than weep it done.
No penance can abfolve our guilty fame;
Nor tears, that wash out fin, can wash out shame.
Then fly the fad effects of defperate love;

And leave a banith'd man through lonely woods to rove.

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ΕΜΜΑ.

EMMA.

Let Emma's hapless case be falfely told
By the rafh young, or the ill-natur'd old:
Let every tongue its various cenfures choose;
Abfolve with coldnefs, or with fpite accufe:
Fair Truth at last her radiant beams will raise;
And Malice vanquish'd heightens Virtue's praife.
Let then thy favour but indulge my flight;
O! let my prefence make thy travels light;
And potent Venus shall exalt my name
Above the rumours of cenforious Fame;
Nor from that busy Demon's restless power
Will ever Emma other grace implore,

Than that this truth should to the world be known,
That I, of all mankind, have lov'd but thee alone.

HENRY.

But canft thou wield the fword, and bend the bow?

With active force repel the sturdy foe?

When the loud tumult speaks the battle nigh,
And winged deaths in whistling arrows fly ;
Wilt thou, though wounded, yet undaunted stay,
Perform thy part, and share the dangerous day?
Then, as thy ftrength decays, thy heart will fail,
Thy limbs all trembling, and thy cheeks all pale;
With fruitless forrow, thou, inglorious maid,
Wilt weep thy fafety by thy love betray'd:
Then to thy friend, by foes o'er-charg'd, deny
Thy little useless aid, and coward fly:

Then wilt thou curfe the chance that made thee love
A banish'd man, condemn'd in lonely woods to rove.

EMMA.

EMMA.

With fatal certainty Thaleftris knew
To fend the arrow from the twanging yew;
And, great in arms, and foremost in the war,
Bonduca brandifh'd high the British spear.
Could thirst of vengeance and defire of fame
Excite the female breaft with martial flame?
And fhall not Love's diviner power inspire
More hardy virtue, and more generous fire?

Near thee, mistrust not, constant I'll abide,
And fall, or vanquish, fighting by thy fide.
Though my inferior strength may not allow
That I fhould bear or draw the warrior bow;
With ready hand I will the fhaft fupply,
And joy to fee thy victor arrows fly.
Touch'd in the battle by the hoftile reed,

Should't thou (but Heaven avert it ! ) fhould'st thou

bleed;

hair;

To ftop the wounds, my fineft lawn I'd tear,
Wash them with tears, and wipe them with my
Bleft, when my dangers and my toils have shown
That I, of all mankind, could love but thee alone.
HENRY.

But canft thou, tender maid, canft thou sustain
Afflictive want, or hunger's preffing pain?
Thofe limbs, in lawn and fofteft filk array'd,
From fun-beams guarded, and of winds afraid d;
Can they bear angry Jove? can they resist
The parching dog-ftar, and the bleak north-east ?
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When,

When, chill'd by adverse snows and beating rain,
We tread with weary fteps the longfome plain;
When with hard toil we feek our evening food,
Berries and acorns from the neighbouring wood;
And find among the cliffs no other house,
But the thin covert of some gather'd boughs;
Wilt thou not then reluctant fend thine
Around the dreary waste: and weeping try
(Though then, alas! that trial be too late)
To find thy father's hospitable gate,

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And feats, where ease and plenty brooding fate? Those feats, whence long excluded thou must mourn; That gate, for ever barr'd to thy return:

Wilt thou not then bewail ill-fated love,

And hate a banish'd man, condemn'd in woods to rove?
EMMA.

Thy rife of fortune did I only wed,
From its decline determin'd to recede;
Did I but purpose to embark with thee
On the fmooth furface of a fummer's fea;
While gentle Zephyrs play in profperous gales,
And Fortune's favour fills the fwelling fails;
But would forfake the fhip, and make the shore,
When the winds whistle, and the tempefts roar?
No, Henry, no: one facred oath has tied
Our loves; one destiny our life shall guide;
Nor wild nor deep our common way divide.

When from the cave thou risest with the day,
To beat the woods, and rouse the bounding prey;

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