Page:Hero and Leander (Musaeus) translated by Laurence Eusden (1750).djvu/19

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LEANDER.
19

The God of love, who strikes the fatal blow,
Can best (if any can) the med'cine show:
He to the youth the secret did reveal,
Pleas'd as he was to wound, and then to heal.
The lover soon a zealous fury show'd
T' obey the wise instructions of the leading God:
On her soft bosom he reclin'd his head,
And sighing, thus the fond Leander said.
For thee, my fair one, dangers I'll despise,
And dare th' inclemencies of winter skies:
Swift on the wings of love, I'll force my way,
Tho' winds, and flames, and floods command my stay.
These arms the foaming surges shall withstand,
Insult their rage, and oar me safe to land.
Thus ev'ry night to thy embrace I'll fly,
Shiv'ring with cold, all pale and breathless lye,
And when full warm'd, with bliss dissolve, and die.