Love
A Song: Give me leave to rail at you
From Works (1718)
Give me leave to rail at you,
I ask nothing but my due;
To call you false, and then to say
You shall not keep my Heart a Day:
But, alas! against my Will,
I must be your Captive still.
Ah! be kinder then; for I
Cannot change, and would not die.
Kindness has resistless Charms,
All besides but weakly move;
Fiercest Anger it disarms,
And clips the Wings of flying Love.
Beauty does the Heart invade,
Kindness only can persuade;
It gilds the Lover's servile Chain,
And makes the Slaves grow pleas'd again.
Cite this poem
MLA
Wilmot, John, Earl of Rochester. “A Song: Give me leave to rail at you.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/rochester/25/.
Chicago
Wilmot, John, Earl of Rochester. “A Song: Give me leave to rail at you.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/rochester/25/.
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