The Magnet

Why force the backward heart on love,
That of itself the flame might feel?
When you the Magnet's power would prove,
Say, would you strike it on the Steel?

From common flints you may by force
Excite some transient sparks of fire;
And so, in natures rude and coarse,
Compulsion may provoke desire.

But when, approaching by degrees,
The Magnet to the Steel draws nigh,
At once they feel, each other seize,
And rest in mutual sympathy.

So must the Lover find his way
To move the heart he hopes to win--
Must not in distant forms delay--
Must not in rude assaults begin.

For such attractive power has Love,
We justly each extreme may fear:
'Tis lost when we too distant prove,
And when we rashly press too near.