John Sheffield

1648-1721 / England

On One Who Died Discovering Her Kindness

SOME vex their souls with jealous pain,
While others sigh for cold disdain:
Love's various slaves we daily see-
Yet happy all compared with me!

Of all mankind I loved the best
A nymph so far above the rest
That we outshined the Blest above;
In beauty she, as I in love.

And therefore They, who could not bear
To be outdone by mortals here,
Among themselves have placed her now,
And left me wretched here below.

All other fate I could have borne,
And even endured her very scorn;
But oh! thus all at once to find
That dread account-both dead and kind!
What heart can hold? If yet I live,
'Tis but to show how much I grieve.
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