Thou hast been young; and canst remember still,

430

the Will; And from the past Experience of thy Fires, Canst tell with what a Tide our strong

Desires

Come rushing on in Youth, and what their Rage requires.

And grant thy Youth was exercis'd in Arms,

When Love no Leisure found for softer Charms,

My tender Age in Luxury was train'd,
With idle Ease and Pageants entertain'd;
My Hours my own, my Pleasures un-
restrain'd.

So bred, no wonder if I took the Bent
That seem'd ev'n warranted by thy Consent;
For, when the Father is too fondly kind, 441
Such Seed he sows, such Harvest shall he find.
Blame then thy self, as Reason's Law

requires,

(Since Ñature gave, and thou foment st my Fires ;)

If still those Appetites continue strong,
Thou mayest consider I am yet but young
Consider too, that having been a Wife,
I must have tasted of a better Life,
And am not to be blam'd, if I renew,
By lawful Means, the Joys which then
I knew.
450
Where was the Crime, if Pleasure I procur d,
Young, and a Woman, and to Bliss inur'd?
That was my Case, and this is my Defence ;)
I pleas'd my self, I shunned Incontinence,
And, urg'd by strong Desires, indulg'd
my Sense.

I strove

Left to my self, I must avow, From publick Shame to screen my secret Love,

And, well acquainted with thy Native Pride,

Endeavour'd, what I could not help, to hide.

For which a Womans Wit an easie Way supply'd.

460

How this, so well contriv'd, so closely laid, Was known to thee, or by what Chance betray'd,

Is not my Care: To please thy Pride alone I could have wish'd it had been still unknown.

Thought,

At Leisure first design'd, before I wrought:
On him I rested after long Debate,
And not without consid'ring, fix'd my Fate:
His Flame was equal, though by mine
inspir'd:

471

(For so the Diff'rence of our Birth requir'd :) Had he been born like me, like me his Love Had first begun, what mine was forc'd to

move:

But thus beginning, thus we persevere ; Our Passions yet continue what they were, Nor length of Trial makes our Joys the less sincere.

At this my Choice, though not by thine allow'd,

(Thy Judgment herding with the common Crowd)

Thou tak'st unjust Offence; and, led by them, 480

Dost less the Merit than the Man esteem.
Too sharply, Tancred, by thy Pride betray'd,
Hast thou against the Laws of Kind in-
veigh'd;

For all th' Offence is in Opinion plac'd, Which deems high Birth by lowly Choice debas'd.

This Thought alone with Fury fires thy
Breast,

(For Holy Marriage justifies the rest)
That I have sunk the Glories of the State,
And mix'd my Blood with a Plebeian Mate:
In which I wonder thou shouldst oversee
Superiour Causes, or impute to me
The Fault of Fortune, or the Fates Decree.
Or call it Heav'ns Imperial Pow'r alone,
Which moves on Springs of Justice, though

unknown;

491

Yet this we see, though order'd for the best, The Bad exalted, and the Good oppress'd; Permitted Laurels grace the Lawless Brow, Th' Unworthy rais'd, the Worthy cast below. But leaving that: Search we the secret Springs,

And backward trace the Principles of Things;

500

There shall we find, that when the World began,

One common Mass compos'd the Mould of Man;

One Paste of Flesh on all Degrees bestow d, And kneaded up alike with moistning Blood. The same Almighty Pow'r inspir'd the Frame

With kindl'd Life, and form'd the Souls the

same:

The Faculties of Intellect, and Will, Dispens'd with equal Hand, dispos'd with equal Skill,

Like Liberty indulg'd with Choice of Good or Ill.

Thus born alike, from Vertue first began 510 The Diff'rence that distinguish'd Man from Man:

He claim'd no Title from Descent of Blood, But that which made him Noble, made him Good:

Warm'd with more Particles of Heav'nly) Flame,

He wing'd his upward Flight, and soar'd to Fame;

The rest remain'd below, a Tribe without a Name.

This Law, though Custom now diverts the Course,

As Natures Institute, is yet in Force; Uncancell'd, tho disus'd: And he, whose Mind

520

Is Vertuous, is alone of Noble Kind; Though poor in Fortune, of Celestial Race; And he commits the Crime, who calls him Base.

Now lay the Line; and measure all thy
Court,

By inward Vertue, not external Port,
And find whom justly to prefer above
The Man on whom my Judgment plac'd my
Love :

So shalt thou see his Parts, and Person shine,

And thus compar'd, the rest a basedegen' rate Line.

His Mind, his Meen, the Features of his Face,

Excelling all the rest of Humane Race: 540 These were thy Thoughts, and thou could'st judge aright,

Till Int'rest made a Jaundice in thy Sight. Or shou'd I grant thou didst not rightly

see;

Then thou wert first deceiv'd, and I deceiv'd by thee.

But if thou shalt alledge, through Pride of Mind,

Thy Blood with one of base Condition join'd, 'Tis false; for 'tis not Baseness to be

Poor;

His Poverty augments thy Crime the

more;

Upbraids thy Justice with the scant Regard Of Worth: Whom Princes praise, they shou'd reward.

550

Are these the Kings entrusted by the Crowd With Wealth, to be dispens'd for Common Good?

The People sweat not for their King's Delight,

T' enrich a Pimp, or raise a Parasite ; Theirs is the Toil; and he who well has serv'd His Country, has his Countrys Wealth deserv'd.

Ev'n mighty Monarchs oft are meanly born,

And Kings by Birth to lowest Rank return;
All subject to the Pow'r of giddy Chance,
For Fortune can depress, or can advance:
But true Nobility is of the Mind,
Not giv'n by Chance, and not to Chance
resign'd.

561

Away, with Women weep, and leave me here,

Fix'd, like a Man to die, without a Tear; Or save, or slay us both this present Hour, 580 'Tis all that Fate has left within thy Pow'r. She said: Nor did her Father fail to find, In all she spoke, the Greatness of her Mind; Yet thought she was not obstinate to die, Nor deem'd the Death she promis'd was so nigh:

Secure in this Belief, he left the Dame, Resolv'd to spare her Life, and save her Shame ;

But that detested Object to remove,

To wreak his Vengeance, and to cure her Love.

Intent on this, a secret Order sign'd 590 The Death of Guiscard to his Guards enjoin'd:

Strangling was chosen, and the Night the Time;

A mute Revenge, and blind as was the
Crime:

His faithful Heart, a bloody Sacrifice,
Torn from his Breast, to glut the Tyrant's
Eyes,

Clos'd the severe Command: For, (Slaves to pay)

What Kings decree the Soldier must obey: Wag'd against Foes, and, when the Wars are o'er,

Fit only to maintain Despotick Pow'r : Dang'rous to Freedom, and desir'd alone 600 By Kings, who seek an Arbitrary Throne. Such were these Guards; as ready to have slain

The Prince himself,allur'd with greater gain: So was the Charge perform'd with better Will, By Men inur d to Blood, and exercis'd in Ill. Now, though the sullen Sire had eas'

his Mind,

eas'dy

With cruel Care he chose: The hollow Part Inclos'd, the lid conceal d the Lover's Heart: Then of his trusted Mischiefs one he sent, And bad him with these Words the Gift present:

Thy Father sends thee this, to cheer thy Breast,

And glad thy Sight with what thou lov'st the best,

As thou hast pleas'd his Eyes, and joy'd his Mind,

With what he lov'd the most of Humane Kind.

E'er this the Royal Dame, who well had weigh'd

The Consequence of what her Sire had said, Fix'd on her Fate, against th' expected Hour,

621

For this so dear a Present, bear him back The best Return that I can live to make. The Messenger dispatch'd, again she view'd

The lov'd Remains, and sighing, thus pursu❜d:

650 Source of my Life, and Lord of my Desires, In whom I liv'd, with whom my Soul expires;

Poor Heart, no more the Spring of Vital Heat,

Curs'd be the Hands that tore thee from thy Seat!

The Course is finish'd, which thy Fates decreed,

And thou, from thy Corporeal Prison freed: Soon hast thou reach'd the Goal with mended Pace,

A World of Woes dispatch'd in little space: Forc'd by thy Worth, thy Foe in Death become

Thy Friend, has lodg'd thee in a costly Tomb; 660

There yet remain'd thy Fun'ral Exequies, The weeping Tribute of thy Widows Eyes; And those, indulgent Heav'n has found the way

That I, before my Death, have leave to pay My Father ev'n in Cruelty is kind,

Or Heaven has turn'd the Malice of his Mind

To better Uses than his Hate design'd; And made th' Insult, which in his Gift appears,

The Means to mourn thee with my pious Tears;

Which I will pay thee down, before I go, 670 And save my self the Pains to weep below, If Souls can weep; though once I meant

N

She said: Her brim-full Eyes, that ready stood,

And only wanted Will to weep a Flood, Releas'd their watry Store, and pour'd amain,

Like Clouds low hung, a sober Show'r of Rain;

Mute solemn Sorrow, free from Female
Noise,

Such as the Majesty of Grief destroys:
For, bending o'er the Cup, the Tears she shed
Seem'd by the Posture to discharge her
Head,

O'er-fill'd before; and oft (her Mouth apply'd

To the cold Heart) she kiss'd at once, and cry'd. 690

Her Maids, who stood amaz'd, nor knew the Cause

Of her Complaining, nor whose Heart it was; Yet all due Measures of her Mourning kept, Did Office at the Dirge, and by Infection wept ;

And oft enquir'd th' Occasion of her Grief, (Unanswer'd but by Sighs) and offer'd vain Relief.

At length, her Stock of Tears already shed,
She wip'd her Eyes, she rais'd her drooping
Head,

And thus pursu'd: O ever faithful Heart,
I have perform'd the Ceremonial Part, 700
The Decencies of Grief; It rests behind,
That, as our Bodies were, our Souls be join'd:
To thy whate'er abode, my Shade convey,
And as an elder Ghost, direct the way.
She said; and bad the Vial to be brought,
Where she before had brew'd the deadly
Draught:

First pouring out the med'cinable Bane, The Heart, her Tears had rins'd, she bath'd again;

Then down her Throat the Death securely throws,

And quaffs a long Oblivion of her Woes. 710 This done, she mounts the Genial Bed, and