Horace. Book Iii. Ode 9 Poem by Maria Frances Cecilia Cowper

While I was the king of your heart, love,
And you kept all your kisses for me,
I'll wager no king on his throne, love.
So rich or so happy could be.

When Nellie that impudent hussy,
Hadn't stolen my lover away,
Men might brag of their Norman descent, Sir,
But your Lucy was prouder than they.

But Nellie now holds me in bondage,
Such music divine she can make,
Could I purchase her life with my own life,
E'en death would I dare for her sake.

And Robert is now my adorer.
The son of old Benjamin Lake,
Could I purchase his life by my dying,
Twice gladly I'd die for his sake.

But what if the old love returning
Should bind me to Lucy anew.
If Nellie be scorned and rejected,
And my heart open only to you ?
Then though he be a perfect Adonis,
You fickle and cross as the sea,
Yet to live and to die with my Charlie
Were fortune sufficient for me.