Page:Poems upon Several Occasions.djvu/157

Love is a Subject to himself alone,
And knows no other Empire than his own;
No Ties can bind, that from Constraint arise,
Where either's forc'd, all Obligation dies:
Curst be the Man, who uses other Art
But only Love, to captivate a Heart.
O fatal Law! requiring to resign
The Object lov'd; or hated, keep her mine.

Ori. Accuse me not of Hate; with equal Eyes
I judge your Merit, and your Virtue prize;
Friendship, Esteem be yours: Bereft before
Of all my Love, what can I offer more!
Your Rival's Image in your Worth I view,
And what I lov'd in him, esteem in you;
Had your Complaint been first, it might have mov'd;
He then had been esteem'd, and you belov'd:
Then blame not me, since nothing bars your Fate,
But that you pleaded last, and came too late.
{Constantius stands in a thoughtful Posture.

Cor. Thus Merit's useless; Fortune holds the Scale,
And still throws in the Weight that must prevail;
Your Rival is not of more Charms possest,
A Grain of better Luck has made him blest.

Con. To love, and have the Power to possess,
And yet resign, can Flesh and Blood do this?
Shall Nature, erring from her first Command,
Self-Preservation, fall by her own Hand?