WHY dost thou hate return instead of love, And with such merciless despite My faith and hope requite? Oh! if th' affection cannot move, Learn innocence yet of the dove, And thy disdain to juster bounds confine; Or if t'wards man thou equally decline The rules of justice and of mercy too, Thou mayst thy love to such a point refine, As it will kill more than thy hate can do. Love, love, Melaina, then, though death ensue, Yet [if] it is a greater fate To die through love than hate, Rather a victory pursue, To beauty's lawful conquest due, Than tyrant eyes envenom with disdain; Or if thy power thou wouldst so maintain, As equally to be both lov'd and dread, Let timely kisses call to life again Him whom thy eyes have planet-strucken dead. Kiss, kiss, Melaina, then, and do not stay Until these sad effects appear Which now draw on so near, That didst thou longer help delay, My soul must fly so fast away, As would at once both life and love divorce; Or if I needs must die without remorse, Kiss and embalm me so with that sweet breath, That while thou triumph'st o'er Love and his force, I may triumph yet over Fate and Death. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...RESCUE by JEAN STARR UNTERMEYER THE RETIREMENT; TO MR. IZAAK WALTON by CHARLES COTTON LEAVE A KISS WITHIN THE CUP by AGATHIAS SCHOLASTICUS AN EPITAPH ON A DUTCH CAPTAIN by PHILIP AYRES MARI MAGNO; OR TALES ON BOARD: THE MATE'S STORY by ARTHUR HUGH CLOUGH |