Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, TO A YOUNG LADY, by MATTHEW PRIOR


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

TO A YOUNG LADY, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: You, madam, may with safety go
Last Line: It must proceed from you alone.
Variant Title(s): The Fortune-teller
Subject(s): Future; Happiness; Prophecy & Prophets; Secrets; Joy; Delight


YOU, madam, may with safety go,
Decrees of destiny to know;
For at your birth kind planets reigned,
And certain happiness ordained:
Such charms as yours are only given
To chosen favourites of heaven.
But, such is my uncertain state,
'Tis dangerous to try my fate;
For I would only know from art
The future motions of your heart,
And what predestinated doom
Attends my love for years to come;
No secrets else, that mortals learn,
My cares deserve, or life concern;
But this will so important be,
I dread to search the dark decree;
For, while the smallest hope remains,
Faint joys are mingled with my pains;
Vain distant views my fancy please,
And give some intermitting ease:
But should the stars too plainly show
That you have doomed my endless woe,
No human force, or art, could bear
The torment of my wild despair.
This secret then I dare not know,
And other truths are useless now.
What matters, if unblest in love,
How long or short my life will prove!
To gratify what low desire,
Should I with needless haste inquire,
How great, how wealthy, I shall be?
Oh! what is wealth or power to me!
If I am happy, or undone,
It must proceed from you alone.





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