Poems and songs by Thomas Flatman.

About this Item

Title: Poems and songs by Thomas Flatman.
Author: Flatman, Thomas, 1637-1688.
Publication: London :: Printed for Benjamin Tooke ...,; 1686.
Rights/Permissions: This keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the Early English Books Online Text Creation Partnership. Searching, reading, printing, or downloading EEBO-TCP texts is reserved for the authorized users of these project partner institutions. Permission must be granted for subsequent distribution, in print or electronically, of this text, in whole or in part. Please contact project staff at eebotcp-info@umich.edu for further information or permissions.
Subject terms: Poetry, English.; Songs, English.
Cite this Item: "Poems and songs by Thomas Flatman." In the digital collection Early English Books Online 2. https://name.umdl.umich.edu/A39655.0001.001. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed May 6, 2024.

WHy dost thou all address deny?
Hard hearted Parthenissa, why?
See how the trembling Lovers come,
That from thy lips expect their doom,

Cloris! I hate them all, they know,
Nay I have often told them so;
Their silly Politicks abhorr'd:
I scorn to make my Slave my Lord:

But Strephon's eyes proclaim his Love Too brave, tyrannical to prove.

Ah Cloris! when we lose our pow'r We must obey the Conquerour.

Yet where a Gentle Prince bears sway, It is no bondage to obey.

But if like Nero, for a while,
With arts of kindness he beguile;
How shall the Tyrant be withstood!
When he has writ his Laws in blood!

Love, Parthenissa, all commands,
It fetters Kings in charming bands;
Mars yields his Arms to Cupid's darts,
And Beauty softens savage hearts,

Chorus.

If nothing else can pull the Tyrant down, Kill him with kindness, and the day's your own.