ABSTRACT
To my dear eft Antenor, on bis Farting.
THough it be jufl to grieve when I muft part With him that is the Guardian o f my Heart 3 Yet by an happy change the Jofsof mine Is with advantage paid in haying thine. And I (by that dear Gueft inftruflcdj find Abfence can do no hurt to Souls combin’d. As we were bom to love, brought to agree By the impreflions o f Divine Decree : So when united nearer wc became, It didnot weaken, butencrcafc, our Flame. Unlike to thofe who diftant joys admire, But flight them whenpofleft o f their dcfire. Each o f our Souls did its own temper fir, And in the other’s Mould fo fafhion’d it, That now our Inclinations both are grown, Like to our Intcrcflsand Perfons, one 3
And
AjxdSouIs w hom fuch an Union fortifies, Pafiion can ne’re deftroy, nor Fate furprize. Now as in Wat dies, though we do nor know ’When the Hand moves, we find itftijl doth g a t So I, by fecret Sympathy inclin’d, W ill abfenf meet, and underftand thy mind; And thonat chy return lhalt find thy Heart Still fafe, with all the lpve thou didft: impartFor though that treafure I have ne’re defcrv’d, It fhall with ftrong Religion be preferv’d. And befides this thou lhalt in me furvcy Thy felf reflefted while thou art away. For what fome forward Arts do undertake, The Images ofabfent Friends to make, And rcprefent their a&ions in a Clafs, Friendfhip it felf can only bring to pafs, That Magick which both Fate and Time beguiles, And in a moment runs a thoufand miles. So in my Brcaft thy Piflure drawn fhall be, IVly Guide, Life, O bjcS, Friend, and Deftiny : And none fhall know, though they employ their wit, Which is the right At;tenor> thou, or it.
