Blaspheme not love, ye lovers, nor dispraise The wise divinity that makes you blind, Sealing the eyes, but showing to the mind The high perfection from which nature strays. For love is God, and in unfathomed ways Brings forth the beauty for which fancy pined. I loved, and lost my love among mankind;
But I have found it after many days. Oh, trust in God, and banish rash despair, That, feigning evil, is itself the curse! My angel is come back, more sad and fair, And witness to the truth of love I bear, With too much rapture for this sacred verse, At the exceeding answer to my prayer.