html.skin-theme-clientpref-night @media(prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os }When Aurelia first became
The Mistress of his Heart,
So mild and gentle was her Reign,
Thyrsis, in hers, had part.
Reserves and Care he laid aside,
And gave his Love the Reins;
The headlong course he now must bide,
No other way remains.
At first her Cruelty he fear'd,
But that being overcome,
No second for a while appear'd,
And he thought all his own:
He call'd himself a happier Man
Than ever Lov'd before;
Her Favours still his Hopes out-ran,
What Mortal can have more?
Love smil'd at first, then looking grave,
Said, Thyrsis, leave to boast;
More joy than all her kindness gave,
Her Fickleness will cost.
He spoke, and from that fatal time,
All Thyrsis did, or said,
Appear'd unwelcome, or a Crime,
To the Ungrateful Maid.
Then he despairing of her Heart,
Would fain have had his own.
Love answered, such a Nymph could part
With nothing she had won.