Arthur Quiller-Couch, ed. 1919. The Oxford Book of English Verse: 1250–1900.
William Walsh. 16631708429. Rivals
OF all the torments, all the cares, | |
With which our lives are curst; | |
Of all the plagues a lover bears, | |
Sure rivals are the worst! | |
By partners in each other kind | 5 |
Afflictions easier grow; | |
In love alone we hate to find | |
Companions of our woe. | |
Sylvia, for all the pangs you see | |
Are labouring in my breast, | 10 |
I beg not you would favour me, | |
Would you but slight the rest! | |
How great soe’er your rigours are, | |
With them alone I’ll cope; | |
I can endure my own despair, | 15 |
But not another’s hope. |