Literature Network » John Dryden » The Poetical Works of John Dryden, Vol II » Song-Farewell, fair Armida

Song-Farewell, fair Armida

  Farewell, fair Armida, my joy and my grief,
  In vain I have loved you, and hope no relief;
  Undone by your virtue, too strict and severe,
  Your eyes gave me love, and you gave me despair;
  Now call'd by my honour, I seek with content
  The fate which in pity you would not prevent:
  To languish in love, were to find by delay
  A death that's more welcome the speediest way.
  On seas and in battles, in bullets and fire,
  The danger is less than in hopeless desire;                         10
  My death's-wound you give, though far off I bear
  My fall from your sight--not to cost you a tear:
  But if the kind flood on a wave should convey,
  And under your window my body should lay,
  The wound on my breast when you happen to see,
  You'll say with a sigh--it was given by me.

Literature Network » John Dryden » The Poetical Works of John Dryden, Vol II » Song-Farewell, fair Armida