Tobias George Smollett (1721-1771). To Fix Her,-'Twere a Task As Vain. William Stanley Braithwaite, ed. 1909. The Book of Georgian Verse

William Stanley Braithwaite, ed. The Book of Georgian Verse. 1909.

To Fix Her,—’Twere a Task As Vain

By Tobias George Smollett (1721–1771)


TO fix her,—’twere a task as vain
To count the April drops of rain,
To sow in Afric’s barren soil,—
Or tempests hold within a toil.

I know it, friend, she’s light as air,	5
False as the fowler’s artful snare,
Inconstant as the passing wind,
As winter’s dreary frost unkind.

She’s such a miser too, in love,
Its joys she’ll neither share nor prove;	10
Though hundreds of gallants await
From her victorious eyes their fate.

Blushing at such inglorious reign,
I sometimes strive to break her chain;
My reason summon to my aid,	15
Resolved no more to be betray’d.

Ah, friend! ’tis but a short-lived trance,
Dispell’d by one enchanting glance;
She need but look, and I confess
Those looks completely curse, or bless.	20

So soft, so elegant, so fair,
Sure, something more than human’s there;
I must submit, for strife is vain,
’Twas destiny that forged the chain.