Page:Poems upon Several Occasions.djvu/157

Rh Love is a Subject to himself alone, And knows no other Empire than his own; No Ties can bind, that from Constraint arise, Where either's forc'd, all Obligation dies: Curst be the Man, who uses other Art But only Love, to captivate a Heart. O fatal Law! requiring to resign The Object lov'd; or hated, keep her mine.


 * Ori. Accuse me not of Hate; with equal Eyes

I judge your Merit, and your Virtue prize; Friendship, Esteem be yours: Bereft before Of all my Love, what can I offer more! Your Rival's Image in your Worth I view, And what I lov'd in him, esteem in you; Had your Complaint been first, it might have mov'd; He then had been esteem'd, and you belov'd: Then blame not me, since nothing bars your Fate, But that you pleaded last, and came too late. {Constantius stands in a thoughtful Posture.


 *  Cor. Thus Merit's useless; Fortune holds the Scale,

And still throws in the Weight that must prevail; Your Rival is not of more Charms possest, A Grain of better Luck has made him blest.


 * Con. To love, and have the Power to possess,

And yet resign, can Flesh and Blood do this? Shall Nature, erring from her first Command, Self-Preservation, fall by her own Hand? Rh