| William Stanley Braithwaite, ed. The Book of Restoration Verse. 1910. | | | | Song: ‘In vain, Clemene, you bestow’ | | By Charles Sackville, Earl of Dorset (1638–1706) |
| | | IN 1 vain, Clemene, you bestow | |
| The promised empire of your heart | |
| If you refuse to let me know | |
| The wealthy charms of every part. | |
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| My passion with your kindness grew, | 5 |
| Tho’ beauty gave the first desire: | |
| But beauty only to pursue | |
| Is following a wand’ring fire. | |
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| As hills in perspective suppress | |
| The free enquiry of the sight; | 10 |
| Restraint makes every pleasure less | |
| And takes from love the full delight. | |
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| Faint kisses may in part supply | |
| Those eager longings of my soul; | |
| But oh! I’m lost if you deny | 15 |
| A quick possession of the whole. | |
| | | Note 1. Contributed by Dorset to Southerne’s Sir Anthony Love, 1691. [back] | | |
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