Metin
Her breeding, humor, and her manners weigh;
795
But in the scale of an impartial mind,
Or inclination will your judgment blind.
What more I have to say will lie compris'd
In little room, but must not be despis'd.
Those short receipts have cures on many done,
800
And of that number, I myself am one.
The letters sent you when your nymph was kind,
Revise not, for they'll shake your constant mind:
But say, when you commit them to the fire,
"Be this the fun'ral pile of my desire;
805
Perish, my love, in this just flame expire."
Althaea burnt the fatal brand, and knew,
The brand consuming, her own son she slew.Althaea the wife of Oeneus king of Calydonia, and mother of Meleager, who hearing all her other sons were killed in a sedition, in a fit of fury flung the brand into the fire upon which the fate of Meleager depended, and then stabbed or hanged herself.
Can you whose kindness had a worse return
Repine, a few deceitful words to burn!
810
No: make a total sacrifice, nor spare
The very seal that does her image bear.
From all such places too you must remove,
As ever have been conscious to your love.
