John Dryden (1631–1700). The Poems of John Dryden. 1913.
Songs from the PlaysWhilst Alexis lay prest, from Marriage-à-la-Mode
In her Arms he lov’d best,
With his hands round her neck,
And his head on her breast,
He found the fierce pleasure too hasty to stay,
And his soul in the tempest just flying away.
With a sigh, and a kiss,
She cry’d, Oh my dear, I am robb’d of my bliss;
’Tis unkind to your Love, and unfaithfully done,
To leave me behind you, and die all alone.
And breathing his last,
In pity dy’d slowly, while she dy’d more fast;
Till at length she cry’d, Now, my dear, now let us go,
Now die, my Alexis, and I will die too.
Till Alexis did try
To recover new Breath, that again he might die:
Then often they di’d; but the more they did so,
The Nymph dy’d more quick, and the Shepherd more slow.