[Tea-Table Miscellany Contents]
WHilst I gaze on Chloe trembling,
Straight her eyes my fate declare;
When she smiles I fear dissembling,
When she frowns I then despair.
Jealous of some rival lover,
If a wandring look she give;
Fain I would resolve to leave her,
But can sooner cease to live.
–
Why should I conceal my passion,
Or the torments I endure?
I will disclose my inclination:
Awful distance yields no cure.
Sure it is not in her nature,
To be cruel to her slave;
She is too divine a creature
To destroy what she can save.
–
Happy’s he whose inclination
Warms but with a gentle heat:
Never mounts to raging passion,
Love’s a torment if two great.
When the storm is once blown over,
Soon the ocean quiet grows;
But a constant faithful lover
Seldom meets with true repose.
