Page:Poems - Lewis (1812).djvu/85

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I will not wish, no time nor change
From thee thy Friends may e'er estrange;
For sure no heart can ever range,
The worth of thine which knows:
I will not wish, thy form divine
By each fresh year improved may shine;
For sure to add new charms to thine
Would be to scent a rose^[1].

I'll rather wish [and could'st thou see
My heart, thou would'st perforce agree,
No mortal Wight, who-e'er He be,
Could breathe a kinder vow]
I'll wish [with all that Heaven's best will
Can give of good two lines to fill]
—"May Heaven, sweet Girl, preserve thee still,
"Just what I think thee now!"—

 

1. —"To add a perfume to the Violet."
   Shakspeare.