"How unhappy a Lover am I," from The Conquest of Granada, Part II. Songs from the Plays. John Dryden. 1913. The Poems of John Dryden

John Dryden (1631–1700). The Poems of John Dryden. 1913.

Songs from the Plays

“How unhappy a Lover am I,” from The Conquest of Granada, Part II


1 He. How unhappy a Lover am I
While I sigh for my Phillis in vain;
All my Hopes of Delight
Are another man’s Right,
Who is happy while I am in pain!	5

2 She. Since her Honour allows no Relief,
But to pity the pains which you bear,
’Tis the best of your Fate,
(In a hopeless Estate,)
To give o’re and betimes to despair.	10

3 He. I have try’d the false Med’cine in vain;
For I wish what I hope not to win:
From without, my desire
Has no Food to its Fire,
But is burns and consumes me within.	15

4 She. Yet at least ’tis a pleasure to know
That you are not unhappy alone:
For the Nymph you adore
Is as wretched and more,
And accounts 1 all your suff’rings her own.	20

5 He. O ye Gods, let me suffer for both;
At the Feet of my Phillis I’le lye:
I’ll resign up my Breath,
And take Pleasure in Death,
To be pity’d by her when I dye.	25

6 She. What her Honour deny’d you in Life
In her Death she will give to your Love:
Such a Flame as is true
After Fate will renew,
For the Souls to meet closer above.	30

Note 1. accounts] counts some edd. [back]