The Lady's Tragedy;
OR,
The Languishing Lamentation of a London Merchant's
Daughter, who dy'd for Love of a Linnen Draper.
To the Tune of The Ring of Gold.
Licensed according to Order.
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WHy is my Love unkind?
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why do's he leave me?
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Why do's he change his mind,
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and strive to grieve me?
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He hath some fair One found,
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this I discover,
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And therefore seeks to wound
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his loyal Lover.
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I call'd to mind the Vow
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which once he made me:
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Can he forget it now,
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and thus degrade me?
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Yes like a Wretch he can,
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and flatter many,
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There's no belief in Man,
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no not in any.
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They Serpent-lke deceive
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young silly Women;
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Who can their Oaths believe,
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since it is common
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For them to swear and lye
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when they are brewing
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The grandest Villany
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to prove our Ruine?
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When at my Feet he fell,
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and did implore me,
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His Sorrows to expel,
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seem'd to adore me:
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I out of meer Good-Will,
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bemoan'd his Ditty;
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Kind Hearts must suffer still;
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the more's the pity.
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While he sad Sighs did fetch,
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just as if dying,
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His Hand to me he'd stretch,
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often replying,
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Your Rocky Heart of Stone
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feels no relenting,
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Though for your sake alone,
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I lie lamenting.
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Down from his melting Eyes
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Tears they were flowing,
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As he with feigned Cries
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said, I am going
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To the Elizium Shade,
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where Lovers wander,
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Whose Lives have been betray'd,
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Hearts rent in sunder.
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This said, My Heart did bleed,
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and melt within me;
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To him I ran with speed,
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his Words did win me:
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Streightway I granted Love,
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and Pledges gave him;
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Rather than guilty prove,
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I'd dye to save him.
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Thus from his wretched State
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did I restore him;
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But O unhappy Fate!
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I fall before him;
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In Chains of Love I lye,
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loaden with anguish;
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Now let me, let me die,
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why should I languish!
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Why did I not, when born,
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my Breath surrender,
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Rather than bear the Scorn
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of my Pretender!
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The torment which I feel
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this very hour,
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Alas! I would conceal,
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but ha'n't the power.
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The News to him will go,
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how I lamented;
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Which he should never know,
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could I prevent it?
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He that could cringe and bow
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first to enjoy me,
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Then strive, and study how
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he might destroy me.
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Farewell my Parents dear,
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Father, and Mother;
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You'll lose your Darling dear,
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though you have no other:
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Yet never weep for me,
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since I am going
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Where Joys shall ever be
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like Fountains flowing.
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