The Lamenting Shepherdess:
OR,
The Unkind Shepherd.
See here the pattern of true love,
Whose Constancy out-vies the Dove;
And though forsaken, still she crys
She will be constant till she dyes.
To the Tune of, Cloris Awake.
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AH! my Cruel Shepheard,
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so false and unkind,
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To leave me forsaken,
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I find thou'rt inclin'd:
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But do thou prove false
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as a Shepherd can be:
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Yet whilst I have breath,
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I'le be constant to thee.
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No Riches nor Honour
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shall ever perswade,
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No hopes or Preferment
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my heart shall invade:
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But I'le be contented
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in my mean degree:
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And whilst I have breath,
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I'le be constant to thee.
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THough many young Gallants
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did seem to admire
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What nature had lent me,
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and Love did desire:
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Yet all these great offers
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were slighted you see:
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And whilst I have breath,
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I'le be constant to thee.
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Yea, many kind Shepherds
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have sigh'd out their moan:
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And vow'd they lov'd Cloris,
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yea, Cloris alone:
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But Cloris did scorn them,
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and would not agree:
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'Cause whilst she had breath,
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she'd be constant to thee.
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Both gentle and simple
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have lov'd me in vain:
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They woo'd me, and su'd me,
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and yet do complain:
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Their loves are so fervent,
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no quiet can be:
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'Cause whilst I have breath,
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I'le be constant to thee.
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Then tell me dear Shepherd,
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what fault canst thou find:
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Or why to thy Cloris
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art thou so unkind?
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Can nothing perswade thee
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more kinder to be?
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Since whilst I have breath,
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I'le be constant to thee.
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Can my Prayers or my Tears
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with thee nothing prevail?
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Or art thou not grieved
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to see me look pale?
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Thou art the unkindest
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that Mortal e're see:
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Yet whilst I have baeath,
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i'le be constant to thee.
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Well, since it is so,
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that these pains I endure,
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And languish in Love,
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never hoping for Cure:
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I will beg of kind Death,
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that I may be set free:
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And whilst I have breath,
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i'le be constant to thee.
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That when thy unkindness
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procureth my doom,
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Some Poet shall write
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these sad Lines on my Tomb:
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Here lyeth the pattern
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of true Constancy,
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Who whilst she had breath,
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never changed could be.
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Although her false Shepherd
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would never be kind,
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No Riches or Honour
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could alter her mind:
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She vow'd to her Death,
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that she constant would be:
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So farewell false Shepherd,
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so cruel to me.
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