Hero and Leander and Other Poems | Page 6

and honour had been wrong'd,
By being
possess'd of him for whom she long'd;
Ay, and she wish'd, albeit not
from her heart,
That he would leave her turret and depart.
The
mirthful god of amorous pleasure smil'd
To see how he this captive
nymph beguil'd;
For hitherto he did but fan the fire,
And kept it
down, that it might mount the higher.
Now wax'd she jealous lest his

love abated,
Fearing her own thoughts made her to be hated.

Therefore unto him hastily she goes,
And, like light Salmacis, her
body throws
Upon his bosom, where with yielding eyes
She offers
up herself a sacrifice
To slake his anger, if he were displeas'd:
O,
what god would not therewith be appeas'd?
Like Æsop's cock, this
jewel he enjoy'd,
And as a brother with his sister toy'd,
Supposing
nothing else was to be done,
Now he her favour and goodwill had
won.
But know you not that creatures wanting sense,
By nature
have a mutual appetence,
And, wanting organs to advance a step,

Mov'd by love's force, unto each other lep?
Much more in subjects
having intellect
Some hidden influence breeds like effect.
Albeit
Leander, rude in love and raw,
Long dallying with Hero, nothing saw

That might delight him more, yet he suspected
Some amorous rites
or other were neglected.
Therefore unto his body hers he clung:
She,
fearing on the rushes to be flung,
Striv'd with redoubled strength; the
more she striv'd,
The more a gentle pleasing heat reviv'd,
Which
taught him all that elder lovers know;
And now the same gan so to
scorch and glow,
As in plain terms, yet cunningly, he crave it:
Love
always makes those eloquent that have it.
She, with a kind of granting,
put him by it,
And ever, as he thought himself most nigh it,
Like to
the tree of Tantalus, she fled,
And, seeming lavish, sav'd her
maidenhead.
Ne'er king more sought to keep his diadem,
Than Hero
this inestimable gem:
Above our life we love a steadfast friend;
Yet
when a token of great worth we send,
We often kiss it, often look
thereon,
And stay the messenger that would be gone;

No marvel,
then, though Hero would not yield
So soon to part from that she
dearly held:
Jewels being lost are found again; this never;
'Tis lost
but once, and once lost, lost for ever.
Now had the Morn espied her
lover's steeds;
Whereat she starts, puts on her purple weeds,
And,
red for anger that he stay'd so long,
All headlong throws herself the
clouds among.
And now Leander, fearing to be miss'd,
Embrac'd
her suddenly, took leave, and kiss'd:
Long was he taking leave, and
loathe to go,
And kiss'd again, as lovers use to do.
Sad Hero wrung

him by the hand, and wept,
Saying, "Let your vows and promises be
kept":
Then standing at the door, she turn'd about,
As loathe to see
Leander going out.
And now the sun, that through th' horizon peeps,

As pitying these lovers, downward creeps;
So that in silence of the
cloudy night,
Though it was morning, did he take his flight.
But
what the secret trusty night conceal'd,
Leander's amorous habit soon
reveal'd:
With Cupid's myrtle was his bonnet crown'd,
About his
arms the purple riband wound,
Wherewith she wreath'd her
largely-spreading hair;
Nor could the youth abstain, but he must wear

The sacred ring wherewith she was endow'd,
When first religious
chastity she vow'd;
Which made his love through Sestos to be known,

And thence unto Abydos sooner blown
Than he could sail; for
incorporeal Fame,
Whose weight consists in nothing but her name,

Is swifter than the wind, whose tardy plumes
Are reeking water and
dull earthly fumes.
Home when he came, he seem'd not to be there,

But, like exiled air thrust from his sphere,
Set in a foreign place; and
straight from thence,
Alcides-like, by mighty violence,
He would
have chas'd away the swelling main,
That him from her unjustly did
detain.
Like as the sun in a diameter
Fires and inflames objects
removed far,
And heateth kindly, shining laterally;
So beauty
sweetly quickens when 'tis nigh,
But being separated and remov'd,

Burns where it cherish'd, murders where it lov'd.
Therefore even as an
index to a book,
So to his mind was young Leander's look.
O, none
but gods have power their love to hide!
Affection by the countenance
is descried;
The light of hidden fire itself discovers,
And love that is
conceal'd betrays poor lovers.
His secret flame apparently was seen:


Leander's father knew where he had been,
And for the same mildly
rebuk'd his son,
Thinking to quench the sparkles new-begun.
But
love resisted once, grows passionate,
And nothing more than counsel
lovers hate;
For as a hot proud horse highly disdains
To have his
head controll'd, but breaks the reins,
Spits forth the ringled bit, and
with his hoves
Checks the submissive ground; so he that loves,
The
more he is restrain'd, the worse he fares:
What is it now but mad

Leander dares?
"O Hero, Hero!" thus he cried full oft;
And then he
got him to a rock aloft,
Where having spied her tower, long star'd he
on't,
And pray'd the narrow toiling Hellespont
To part in twain, that
he might come and go;
But still the rising billows answer'd, "No."

With that, he stripp'd him to the ivory skin,
And, crying, "Love, I
come," leap'd lively in:
Whereat the sapphire-visag'd god grew proud,

And made his capering