Love

Song: 'When, dearest beauty, thou shalt pay'

by Thomas Stanley 1625–1678

Love

When, dearest beauty, thou shalt pay
Thy faith and my vain hope away
To some dull soul that cannot know
The worth of that thou dost bestow;
Lest with my sighs and tears I might
Disturb thy unconfin'd delight,
To some dark shade I will retire,
And there, forgot by all, expire.

Thus, whilst the difference thou shalt prove
Betwixt a feign'd and real love,
Whilst he, more happy, but less true,
Shall reap those joys I did pursue,
And with those pleasures crownéd be
By Fate, which Love design'd for me,
Then thou, perhaps, thyself wilt find
Cruel too long, or too soon kind.

MLA

Stanley, Thomas. “Song: 'When, dearest beauty, thou shalt pay'.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/stanley/50/.

Chicago

Stanley, Thomas. “Song: 'When, dearest beauty, thou shalt pay'.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/stanley/50/.

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