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On the Marriage of the Earl of A— with the Countess of S—

1 Triumphant Beauty never looks so Gay,
2 As on the Morning of a Nuptial Day.
3 Love then within a larger Circle moves,
4 New Graces adds, and ev'ry Charm improves;
5 While Hymen does his sacred Rites prepare,
6 The buisy Nymphs attend the trembling Fair;
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7 Whose Veins are swell'd with an unusual Heat,
8 And eager Pulses with strange Motions beat;
9 Alternate Passions various Thoughts impart,
10 And painful Joys distend her throbbing Heart:
11 Her Fears are great, and her Desires are strong,
12 The Minutes fly too fast yet stay too long:
13 Now she is ready, the next Moment not:
14 All things are done then something is forgot:
15 She fears, yet wishes the strange Work were done:
16 Delays, yet is impatient to be gone.
17 Disorders thus from ev'ry Thought arise,
18 What Love perswades, I know not what denies.
19 Achates' Choice does his firm Judgment prove,
20 And shows at once he can be wise and love;
21 Because it from no spurious Passion came,
22 But was the Product of a noble Flame:
23 Bold without Rudeness, without blazing bright,
24 Pure as fixt Stars, and uncorrupt as Light;
25 By just Degrees it to Perfection grew,
26 An early Ripeness, but a lasting too.
27 So the bright Sun ascending to his Noon,
28 Moves not too slowly, nor is there too soon.
29 But tho' Achates was unkindly driv'n
30 From his own Land, he's banish'd into Heaven;
31 For sure the Raptures of Cosmelia's Love
32 Are next, if only next, to those above:
33 Thus Pow'r Divine does with his Foes engage,
34 Rewards his Vertues, and defeats their Rage;
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35 For first it did to fair Cosmelia give
36 All that a Human Creature could receive:
37 Whate'er can raise our Wonder or Delight,
38 Transport the Soul, or gratify the Sight,
39 Then in the full Perfection of her Charms,
40 Lodg'd the bright Virgin in Achates' Arms.
41 What Angels are, is in Cosmelia seen,
42 Their Awful Glories, and their God-like Mien;
43 For in her Aspect all the Graces meet,
44 All that is Noble, Beautiful, or Sweet;
45 There ev'ry Charm in lofty Triumph sits,
46 Scorns poor Defect, and to no Fault submits;
47 There Symmetry, Complexion, Air, unite,
48 Sublimely Noble, and Amazing Bright.
49 So, newly finish'd by the Hand Divine
50 Before her Fall, did the first Woman shine:
51 But Eve in one great Point she does excel;
52 Cosmelia never err'd at all, She fell.
53 From her, Temptation in Despair withdrew,
54 Nor more assaults, whom it could ne'er subdue.
55 Virtue confirm'd, and regularly brought
56 To full Maturity by serious Thought,
57 Her Actions with a watchful Eye surveys,
58 Each Passion guides, and ev'ry Motion sways:
59 Not the least Failure in her Conduct lies,
60 So gaily modest, and so freely wise.
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61 Her Judgment sure, impartial, and refin'd,
62 With Wit that's clear, and penetrating join'd,
63 O'er all the Efforts of her Mind presides,
64 And to the noblest End her Labours guides:
65 She knows the best, and does the best pursue,
66 And treads the Maze of Life without a Clew;
67 That the weak only and the wav'ring lack,
68 When they're mistaken, to conduct 'em back:
69 She does amidst ten Thousand Ways prefer
70 The right, as if not capable to err.
71 Her Fancy strong, vivacious, and sublime,
72 Seldom betrays her Converse to a Crime;
73 And tho' it moves with a luxuriant Heat,
74 'Tis ne'er precipitous, but always great:
75 For each Expression, ev'ry teeming Thought,
76 Is to the scanning of her Judgment brought;
77 Which wisely separates the finest Gold,
78 And casts the Image in a beauteous Mold.
79 No trifling Words debase her Eloquence,
80 But all's Pathetick, all is Sterling Sense,
81 Refin'd from drossy Chat, and idle Noise,
82 With which the Female Conversation cloys;
83 So well she knows what's understood by few,
84 To time her Thoughts, and to express 'em too;
85 That what she speaks does to the Soul transmit
86 The fair Ideas of delightful Wit.
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87 Illustrious Born, and as Illustrious Bred,
88 By great Example to wise Actions led;
89 Much to the Fame her Lineal Heroes bore
90 She owes, but to her own high Genius more;
91 And, by a noble Emulation mov'd,
92 Excell'd their Vertues, and her own Improv'd,
93 Till they arriv'd to that Celestial Height,
94 Scarce Angels Greater be, or Saints so bright.
95 But if Cosmelia could yet Lovelier be,
96 Of Nobler Birth, or more a Deity,
97 Achates merits Her, tho' none but He,
98 Whose Gen'rous Soul abhors a base Disguise,
99 Resolv'd in Action, and in Council Wise
100 Too well confirm'd and fortified within,
101 For Threats to force, or Flattery to win.
102 Unmov'd, amidst the Hurricane he stood,
103 He dare be Guiltless, and he will be Good.
104 Since the first Pair in Paradise were join'd,
105 Two Hearts were ne'er so Happily combin'd.
106 Achates, Life to fair Cosmelia gives,
107 In fair Cosmelia, Great Achates lives:
108 Each, is to other, the Divinest Bliss;
109 He, is her Heaven, and She, is more than His,
110 Oh, may the kindest Influence Above
111 Protect their Persons, and Indulge their Love.

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About this text

Title (in Source Edition): On the Marriage of the Earl of A— with the Countess of S—
Author: John Pomfret
Themes: marriage
Genres: heroic couplet; occasional poem

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Source edition

Pomfret, John, 1667-1702. Poems upon Several Occasions. By the Reverend Mr. John Pomfret [poems only]. The Sixth Edition, Corrected. With some Account Of his Life and Writings. To which are added, His Remains. London: printed for D. Brown without Temple Bar, J. Walthoe in the Temple Cloysters, A. Bettesworth, and E. Taylor, in Pater-Noster-Row, and J. Hooke in Fleetstreet, 1724, pp. 82-86. [12], 132, vi, 17p. (ESTC N21233)

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Typography, spelling, capitalization, and punctuation have been cautiously modernized. The source of the text is given and all significant editorial interventions have been recorded in textual notes. This ECPA text has been edited to conform to the recommendations found in Level 5 of the Best Practices for TEI in Libraries version 4.0.0.