The Poetical Works of the Right Hon. George Granville, Lord Lansdowne/12
THE DESERTION.
Now fly, Diſcretion! to my aid,
See haughty Mira, fair and bright,
In all the pomp of love array’d;
Ah! how I tremble at the ſight!
She comes! ſhe comes!—before her all5
Mankind does proſtrate fall.
Love, a deſtroyer fierce and young,
Advent’rous, terrible, and ſtrong,
Cruel and raſh, delighting ſtill to vex,
Sparing nor age nor ſex,10
Commands in chief: well fortify’d he lies,
And from her lips, her cheeks, and eyes,
All oppoſition he defies.
Reaſon, Love’s old inveterate foe,
Scarce ever reconcil’d till now,15
Reaſon aſſiſts her too.
A wiſe commander he, for council fit,
But nice and coy, nor has been ſeen to ſit
In modern ſynod, nor appear’d of late
In courts nor camps, nor in affairs of ſtate;20
Reaſon proclaims them all his foes,
Who ſuch reſiſtleſs charms oppoſe.
My very boſom-friends make war
Within my breaſt, and in her intereſts are;
Eſteem and Judgment, with ſtrong Fancy, join25
To court and call the fair invader in;
My darling favourite, Inclination, too,
All, all conſpiring with the foe.
Ah! whither ſhall I fly to hide
My weakneſs from the conqueror’s pride?30
Now, now, Diſcretion! be my guide:
But ſee, this mighty Archimedes too
Surrenders now;
Preſuming longer to reſiſt,
His very name35
Diſcretion must diſclaim,
Folly and Madneſs only would perſiſt.37