The Poetical Works of the Right Hon. George Granville, Lord Lansdowne/14
THE DUCHESS OF
Unſeaſonably ſurpriſed in the embraces of her Lord.
Faireſt Zelinda! ceaſe to chide or grieve,
Nor bluſh at joys that only you can give;
Who with bold eyes ſurvey’d thoſe matchleſs charms
Is puniſh’d, ſeeing in another’s arms:
With greedy looks he views each naked part,5
Joy feeds his eyes, but envy tears his heart.
So caught was Mars; and Mercury aloud
Proclaim’d his grief that he was not the god:
So to be caught was every god’s deſire;
Nor leſs than Venus can Zelinda fire.10
Forgive him then, thou more than heav’nly fair,
Forgive his raſhneſs, puniſh’d by deſpair.
All that we know which wretched mortals feel
In thoſe ſad regions where the tortur’d dwell,
Is that they ſee the raptures of the bleſt,
And view the joys which they muſt never taſte.16