Thomas Humphry Ward, ed. The English Poets. 1880–1918.rnVol. III. The Eighteenth Century: Addison to Blake
William Congreve (16701729)Amoret
F
Pursue and seek her every lover;
I ’ll tell the signs by which you may
The wandering shepherdess discover.
Both studied, though both seem neglected;
Careless she is with artful care,
Affecting to seem unaffected.
Yet change so soon you ’d ne’er suspect ’em;
For she ’d persuade they wound by chance,
Though certain aim and art direct ’em.
For that which in herself she prizes;
And, while she laughs at them, forgets
She is the thing that she despises.