O! cease then coldly to fufpect my love; 290 And let my deed, at least, my faith approve. Alas! no youth fhall my endearments share; Nor day nor night fhall interrupt my care; No future story shall with truth upbraid The cold indiff'rence of the Nut-brown Maid: Nor to hard banishment fhall Henry run; While careless Emma fleeps on beds of down. View me refolv'd, where-e'er thou lead'ft, to go, Friend to thy pain, and partner of thy woe: For I atteft fair Venus, and her fon,

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That I, of all mankind, will love but thee alone.

HENRY.

Let prudence yet obftruct thy vent❜rous way; And take good heed, what men will think and say: That beauteous Emma vagrant courses took; Her father's house and civil life forsook;

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That, full of youthful blood, and fond of man,
She to the wood-land with an exile ran.
Reflect, that leffen'd fame is ne'er regain'd;
And virgin honor once, is always stain’d:
Timely advis'd, the coming evil shun :
Better not do the deed, than weep it done.
No penance can abfolve our guilty fame ;
Nor tears, that wash out fin, can wash out shame.
Then fly the fad effects of defp'rate love;

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And leave a banish'd man through lonely woods to

rove.

EMMA.

Let Emma's hapless case be falfely told By the rash young, or the ill-natur'd old : Let ev'ry tongue its various cenfures chufe ; Abfolve with coldness, or with spight accuse: Fair Truth at last her radiant beams will raise; And malice vanquish'd heightens virtue's praise. Let then thy favour but indulge my flight; O! let my presence make thy travels light; And potent Venus shall exalt my name Above the rumours of cenforious Fame; Nor from that bufie demon's restless pow'r Will ever Emma other grace implore,

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Than that this truth fhould to the world be known, That I, of all mankind, have lov'd but thee alone.

HENRY.

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But canft thou wield the fword, and bend the bow? With active force repel the sturdy foe? When the loud tumult speaks the battel nigh, And winged deaths in whistling arrows fly; Wilt thou, tho' wounded, yet undaunted stay, Perform thy part, and share the dangerous day? Then, as thy ftrength decays, thy heart will fail, Thy limbs all trembling, and thy cheeks all pale; With fruitless forrow, thou, inglorious maid, Wilt weep thy fafety by thy love betray'd:

Then to thy friend, by foes o'ercharg❜d, deny
Thy little useless aid, and coward fly :

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Then wilt thou curfe the chance that made thee love

A banish'd man, condemn'd in lonely woods to rove.

EMMA.

With fatal certainty Thalestris knew
To fend the arrow from the twanging yew:
And, great in arms, and foremost in the war,
Bonduca brandish'd high the British spear.
Could thirst of vengeance and defire of fame
Excite the female breaft with martial flame?
And shall not loves diviner pow'r inspire
More hardy virtue, and more generous fire?

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Near thee, miftrust not, conftant I'll abide, And fall, or vanquish, fighting by thy fide. Though my inferior ftrength may not allow, That I should bear or draw the warrior bow; 355 With ready hand, I will the fhaft fupply,

And joy to fee thy victor arrows fly.

Touch'd in the battel by the hostile reed, Should't thou (but Heav'n avert it!) fhould'st thou bleed;

To stop the wounds my finest lawn I'd tear, 360 Wash them with tears, and wipe them with my hair:

Bleft, when my dangers, and my toils, have shown, That I, of all mankind, could love but thee alone.

HENRY.

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But can't thou, tender maid, canft thou fuftain
Afflictive want, or hunger's preffing pain?
Thofe limbs, in lawn and fofteft filk array'd,
From fun-beams guarded, and of winds afraid;
Can they bear angry Jove? Can they refift
The parching dog-star, and the bleak north-east?
When, chill'd by adverse fnows, and beating rain,
We tread with weary steps the longsome plain;
When with hard toil we feek our ev'ning food,
Berries and acorns from the neighb'ring wood;
And find among the cliffs no other house,
But the thin covert of some gather'd boughs; 375
Wilt thou not then reluctant fend thine eye
Around the dreary wafte; and weeping try
(Tho' then, alas! that trial be too late)
To find thy father's hofpitable gate,

And feats, where Eafe and Plenty brooding fate
Those seats, whence long excluded thou must mourn;
That gate, for ever barr'd to thy return:

Wilt thou not then bewail ill-fated love,

And hate a banish'd man, condemn'd in woods to

rove.

EMMA.

Thy rife of fortune did I only wed, From it's decline determin'd to recede ? Did I but purpose to embark with thee On the smooth furface of a fummer's fea;

While gentle Zephyrs play in profp❜rous gales,
And Fortune's favour fills the fwelling fails; 390
But would forsake the ship, and make the shore,
When the winds whistle, and the tempefts roar?
No, Henry, no: one facred oath has ty'd
Our loves; one destiny our life fhall guide;
Nor wild, nor deep our common way divide.

}

When from the cave thou riseft with the day, To beat the woods, and rouse the bounding prey; The cave with mofs and branches I'll adorn, And cheerful fit, to wait my lord's return: And, when thou frequent bring'ft the fmitten deer (For feldom, archers fay, thy arrows err), 401 I'll fetch quick fuel from the neighb'ring wood, And strike the sparkling flint, and dress the food; With humble duty, and officious haste,

I'll cull the furtheft mead for thy repaft:

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The choiceft herbs I to thy board will bring;
And draw thy water from the freshest spring:
And, when at night, with weary toil oppreft,
Soft flumbers thou enjoy'st, and wholesome rest;
Watchful I'll guard thee, and with midnight pray'r
Weary the gods to keep thee in their care;
And joyous afk, at morn's returning ray,
If thou haft health, and I may blefs the day.
My thoughts shall fix, my latest wish depend
On thee, guide, guardian, kinsman, father, friend:
By all these facred names be Henry known
To Emma's heart: and grateful let him own,
That she, of all mankind, could love but him alone.