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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


SONG by TOBIAS GEORGE SMOLLETT

Poet Analysis

First Line: TO FIX HER! - 'TWERE A TASK AS VAIN
Last Line: TWAS DESTINY THAT FORGED THE CHAIN.

TO fix her, -- 'twere a task as vain
To count the April drops of rain,
To sow in Afric's barren soil, --
Or tempests hold within a toil.

I know it, friend, she's light as air,
False as the fowler's artful snare,
Inconstant as the passing wind,
As winter's dreary frost unkind.

She's such a miser too, in love,
Its joys she'll neither share nor prove;
Though hundreds of gallants await
From her victorious eyes their fate.

Blushing at such inglorious reign,
I sometimes strive to break her chain;
My reason summon to my aid,
Resolved no more to be betray'd.

Ah, friend! 'tis but a short-lived trance,
Dispell'd by one enchanting glance;
She need but look, and I confess
Those looks completely curse, or bless.

So soft, so elegant, so fair,
Sure, something more than human's there;
I must submit, for strife is vain,
'Twas destiny that forged the chain.



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