English Poetry I: From Chaucer to Gray.
The Harvard Classics. 1909–14. |
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| 243. My Dear and Only Love |
| | | James Graham, Marquis of Montrose (1612–1650) |
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| MY dear and only Love, I pray | |
| That little world of thee | |
| Be govern’d by no other sway | |
| Than purest monarchy; | |
| For if confusion have a part | 5 |
| (Which virtuous souls abhor), | |
| And hold a synod in thine heart, | |
| I’ll never love thee more. | |
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| Like Alexander I will reign, | |
| And I will reign alone; | 10 |
| My thoughts did evermore disdain | |
| A rival on my throne. | |
| He either fears his fate too much, | |
| Or his deserts are small, | |
| That dares not put it to the touch, | 15 |
| To gain or lose it all. | |
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| And in the empire of thine heart, | |
| Where I should solely be, | |
| If others do pretend a part | |
| Or dare to vie with me, | 20 |
| Or if Committees thou erect, | |
| And go on such a score, | |
| I’ll laugh and sing at thy neglect, | |
| And never love thee more. | |
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| But if thou wilt prove faithful then, | 25 |
| And constant of thy word, | |
| I’ll make thee glorious by my pen | |
| And famous by my sword; | |
| I’ll serve thee in such noble ways | |
| Was never heard before; | 30 |
| I’ll crown and deck thee all with bays, | |
| And love thee more and more. | |
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