The Works of Abraham Cowley/Volume 2/Love given over
LOVE GIVEN OVER.
It is enough; enough of time and painHast thou consum'd in vain;Leave, wretched Cowley! leaveThyself with shadows to deceive;Think that already lost which thou must never gain.
Three of thy lustiest and thy freshest years(Toss'd in storms of hopes and fears)Like helpless ships that beSet on fire i' th' midst o' the sea,Have all been burnt in love, and all been drown'din tears.
Resolve then on it, and by force or artFree thy unlucky heart;Since Fate does disapproveTh' ambition of thy love,And not one star in heaven offers to take thy part.
If e'er I clear my heart from this desire,If e'er it home to its breast retire,It ne'er shall wander more about,Though thousand beauties call it out:A lover burnt like me for ever dreads the fire.
The pox, the plague, and every small disease,May come as oft as ill-fate please; But death and love are never foundTo give a second wound,We 're by those serpents bit, but we 're devour'd by these.
Alas! what comfort is 't that I am grownSecure of being again o'erthrown?Since such an enemy needs not fearLest any else should quarter there,Who has not only sack'd, but quite burnt down, the town.