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A DIALOGUE BETWIXT HORACE AND LYDIA,
TRANSLATED ANNO 1627, AND SET BY
MR. RO. RAMSEY.
by Robert Herrick
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Hor. |
WHILE, Lydia, I was loved of thee,
Nor any was preferred 'fore me
To hug thy whitest neck, than I
The Persian king lived not more happily.
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Lyd. |
While thou no other didst affect,
Nor Chloe was of more respect
Than Lydia, far-famed Lydia,
I flourished more than Roman Ilia.
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Hor. |
Now Thracian Chloe governs me,
Skilful i' th' harp and melody ;
For whose affection, Lydia, I
(So fate spares her) am well content to die.
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Lyd. |
My heart now set on fire is
By Ornithes' son, young Calais,
For whose commutual flames here I,
To save his life, twice am content to die.
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Hor. |
Say our first loves we should revoke,
And, severed, join in brazen yoke ;
Admit I Chloe put away,
And love again love-cast-off Lydia ?
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Lyd. |
Though mine be brighter than the star,
Though lighter than the cork by far,
Rough as the Adriatic sea, yet I
Will live with thee, or else for thee will die
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Source:
Herrick, Robert. Works of Robert Herrick. vol I.
Alfred Pollard, ed. London, Lawrence & Bullen, 1891. 85.
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