To the Author of the Foregoing Pastoral

BY Silvia if thy charming Self be meant ;
If Friendship be thy Virgin Vows Extent ;
O ! let me in Aminta's Praises join :
Her's my Esteem shall be, my Passion Thine.
When for Thy Head the Garland I prepare ;
A second Wreath shall bind Aminta's Hair :
And when my choicest Songs Thy Worth proclaim ;
Alternate Verse shall bless Aminta's Name :
My Heart shall own the Justice of Her Cause ;
And Love himself submit to Friendship's Laws.

But if beneath thy Numbers soft Disguise,
Some favor'd Swain, some true Alexis lyes ;
If Amaryllis breaths thy secret Pains ;
And thy fond Heart beats Measure to thy Strains :
May'st thou, howe'er I grieve, for ever find
The Flame propitious, and the Lover kind :
May Venus long exert her happy Pow'r,
And make thy Beauty, like thy Verse, endure :
May ev'ry God his friendly Aid afford ;
Pan guard thy Flock, and Ceres bless thy Board.

But if by chance the Series of thy Joys
Permit one Thought less chearful to arise ;
Piteous transfer it to the mournful Swain,
Who loving much, who not belov'd again,
Feels an ill-fated Passion's last Excess ;
And dies in Woe, that Thou may'st live in Peace.