Elegy Xii: To Delia Poem by James Hammond

No second Love shall e'er my Heart surprize,
This solemn League did first our Passion bind:
Thou only thou canst please thy Lover's Eyes,
Thy Voice alone can sooth his troubled Mind.


Oh that thy Charms were only fair to me,
Displease all others, and secure my Rest,
No need of Envy,-let me happy be,
I little care that others know me blest.


With thee in gloomy Deserts let me dwell,
Where never human Footstep mark'd the Ground;
Thou, Light of Life, all Darkness canst expel,
And seem a World with Solitude around.


I say too much-my heedless Words restore,
My Tongue undoes me in this loving Hour,
Thou know'st thy Strength, and thence insulting more,
Will make me feel the Weight of all thy Pow'r:


Whate'er I feel, thy Slave I will remain,
Nor fly the Burthen I am form'd to bear,
In Chains I'll sit me down at Venus' Fane,
She knows my Wrongs, and will regard my Pray'r.