Patie's wedding, or, All parties pleased (2)/Absence Ill to Bide

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ABSENCE ILL TO BIDE.

To its own Proper Tune.

YE ſhepherds ſo chearful and gay,
whoſe flocks never carefly roam:
Should Corydon happen to ſtray,
oh! call the poor wanderers home.

Allow me to muſe and to ſigh
nor talk of the change that I find:
None once was ſo watchful as I,
—I have left my dear Phillis behind.

Now I know what it is to have ſtrove
with the torture of doubt and deſire;
What it is to admire and to love,
and to leave her we love and admire.

Ah! lead forth my flock in the morn,
and the damps of each evening repel;
Alas! I am faint and forlorn,
—I have bid my dear Phillis farewel

Since Phillis vouchſaf'd me a look,
I never once dreamt of my vine:
May I loſe both my pipe and my crook,
if I knew of a kid that was mine.

I prize ev'ry hour that went by,
beyond all that pleas'd me before;
But now they are paſt, and I ſigh,
and I grieve that I priz'd them no more.

But, why do I languiſh in vain?
why wander thus penſively here?
Oh! why did I come from the plain,
where I fed on the ſmiles of my dear?

They tell me my favourite maid,
the pride of that valley, is flown;
Alas! where with her I have ſtray'd,
I could wander with pleaſure alone.

When forc'd the fair nymph to forgo,
what anguiſh I felt at my heart;
Yet I thought,—but it might not be ſo,
’twas with pain that ſhe ſaw me depart.

She gaz'd as I ſlowly withdrew,
my path I could hardly diſcern;
So ſweetly ſhe bade me adieu,
I thought that ſhe bade me return.

The pilgrim that journies all day,
to viſit ſome far diſtant ſhrine;
If he bear but a relique away,
is happy, nor heard to repine.

Thus widely remov'd from the fair,
where my vows, my devotion I owe,
Soft hope is the relique I bear,
and my ſolace wherever I go.



This work was published before January 1, 1929, and is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago.

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