Page:The works of Anna Laetitia Barbauld volume 1.djvu/167

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As near a weeping; spring reclined. The beauteous Araminta pined, And mourned a false ungrateful youth; While dying echoes caught the sound, And spread the soft complaints around Of broken vows and altered truth;— An aged shepherd heard her moan, And thus in pity's kindest tone Addressed the lost despairing maid : "Cease, cease, unhappy fair, to grieve, For sounds, though sweet, can ne'er relieve A breaking heart by love betrayed. "Why shouldst thou waste such precious showers, That fall like dew on withered flowers, But dying passion ne'er restored?