Page:Works of Voltaire Volume 36.djvu/135

My wife can by her wit impart
Delight, she has a feeling heart;
But when with sense there's conflict dire,
Can heart or head true joy inspire?"
Our knight benumbed like ice, this said,
Threw himself flat upon his bed;
And, to conceal his anguish, tries
To feign asleep, sleep from him flies.
The beldame, pinching Robert, cried,
"Do you then slumber by your bride?
Dear but ungrateful spouse, you see
I am subdued, now yield to me;
The timid voice of struggling shame
Is stifled by my amorous flame;
Reign o'er my sense without control,
Since you reign powerful o'er my soul;
I die! just heaven say to what end
With virtue must our love contend?
I'm quite dissolved in love's bright flame,
Pleasure thrills through my vital frame;
Must I, alas! without thee die?
'Tis to thy conscience I apply."
Our knight was complaisant and kind,
Religion, candor, graced his mind;
He took compassion on the dame;
"Madam," said he, "I wish my flame
Like yours, might strong and brightly shine,
The power to effect it is not mine."
"You can effect it," said his wife,
"A great heart, at your stage of life,
By fortitude, by art, and care,
Performs with ease achievements rare:

Vol. 36—8