LOVEis thefirst Impressionthat affects theAppetite; proceeding from thePleasureconceiv’d in aRealorImaginary GOOD.
ITis theCEMENTofAffections, and theEffectof a certainCongruity of Minds; sympathetically arising from theDIASTOLEandSYSTOLEofaffected Hearts.
ITis (as a certainAuthordefines it) a sacredFrenzyof theSoul, and aDivine Madness, elevatingMento the Pitch ofSaints, and rendring them the Care of BenignerDæmons: so far that they are every wheresafe, being under the Protection ofGODSandMen; as thePoetfamiliarly expresses it,Quisquis Amore tenetur, eat tutúsq; sacèrq;——
ITis a kind of a wonderful satisfactoryDeath, and a voluntarySeparationofSoulandBody. TheLover’sMindis inone Place; hisBody, inAnother; andHehimself isNo Where, if he be not with theObjectof hisLOVE: So that (in a manner) it transforms theLOVERinto theObject beloved; and all this without anyevident Trouble, or if there be anyTrouble, still theTroubleislov’d, with apparent Satisfaction and Delight. As it is ingeniously said,Ubi Amatur, non laboratur; & si laboratur, labor Amatur.
LOVEalways springs and blooms with freshDesires, with young and vigorousInclinations. It is so riveted in ourNatures, that ourBloodmust first grow cold and be congeal’d byDeath, before thisFLAMEcan be extinguish’d: Nay, sometimes it is morefervent,tho’ of shorter Duration, in ourlatest Hours, than in ourPrime. For like as theOILwhich feeds aLamp, when almost spent, thestartled Flamebegins to rouze itself, andburn afresh, as if it would fain subsist alittle longer; tho’ on the veryDregsof its accustomed Fuel, it crackles and flashes with greaterNoiseandLustrethan before, but presentlyexpires: So does theAmorous Fire, when we are nearest ourDissolution, begin to trouble us most, and makes ourSoulto blaze with greaterFeversofDesireandGrief, knowing itsPeriodto be near at hand.
LOVEis like thePalm-Tree, the more oppressed withWeights, theHigherit grows. It always desires to encrease, dilate, and stretch itself farther still, leading to anHarmonious UnionofHearts.Richescannot purchaseLove. NeitherThreatsnorViolencecan either force or restrain it; which being free byNature, as proceeding from theFreedom of the Will, disdains allCompulsion;subduingall, andunsubduedby any Opposition. In short, it is so generous, that whereas all otherAffectionsandActionsaim at differentRewards;LOVEonly is contented withLove, holding nothing else as asufficient Recompence.
LOVEmadeUlysses, rather than forsake his dearPenelope, refuseIMMORTALITYitself atCalipso’s hands.
LOVEis the oldest of ourPassions, in that it came into the World with us; and from thence it becomeshabitualto agoodNATURE, and abraveSOUL.
LOVEis the most noble and generous of ourPassions, it soon removes all puny Obstacles in its way. It is ready, prompt, and dexterous to findExcusesorForgivenessfor the greatestFAULTS, and much more to palliate thePeccadillo’s of theBeloved. It does by a peculiar Force and Virtue extirpate allRevenge, and blot out theMEMOIRSofpast Unkindnesses.
LOVEtriumphantlyovercomes all Things. All things yield to its Power; and the more we oppose it, the strongerResistanceit makes. It conquers the greatestHearts, and victoriously subdues the mostmagnanimousSouls.Alexanderthe Great, was not exempted from this insuperablePassion, at the sight ofDarius’s fairDaughters. No,LOVEmadeHercules, the Son ofJUPITERhimself, stoop and truckle to theFemale Conqueror; according to the following knownDistich,
“Lenam non potuit, potuit superare Leænant,“Quem Fera non potuit vincere, vicit Hera.
“Lenam non potuit, potuit superare Leænant,“Quem Fera non potuit vincere, vicit Hera.
“Lenam non potuit, potuit superare Leænant,“Quem Fera non potuit vincere, vicit Hera.
“Lenam non potuit, potuit superare Leænant,
“Quem Fera non potuit vincere, vicit Hera.
INfine, I think it is also ingeniously well defin’d in this ensuingHexastick, by Mr.Howel[35],
“Fax grata est, gratum est vulnus, mihi grata Catena est,“Me quibus astringit, lædit & urit Amor;“Sed Flammam extingui, sanari Vulnera, sulvi“Vinc’la, etiam ut possem non ego posse velim:“Mirum equidem Genus hoc Morbi est, Incendia & Ictus“Vinc’laq; vinctus adhuc, læsus & ustus Amo.Grateful’s to me theFire, theWound, theChain,By whichLoveburns,Lovebinds, and givethPain:But for to quench thisFire, theseBondsto loose,TheseWoundsto heal, I would not, could I, choose:StrangeSickness, where theWounds, theBonds, theFireThatburns, thatbind, thathurt, I must desire.
“Fax grata est, gratum est vulnus, mihi grata Catena est,“Me quibus astringit, lædit & urit Amor;“Sed Flammam extingui, sanari Vulnera, sulvi“Vinc’la, etiam ut possem non ego posse velim:“Mirum equidem Genus hoc Morbi est, Incendia & Ictus“Vinc’laq; vinctus adhuc, læsus & ustus Amo.Grateful’s to me theFire, theWound, theChain,By whichLoveburns,Lovebinds, and givethPain:But for to quench thisFire, theseBondsto loose,TheseWoundsto heal, I would not, could I, choose:StrangeSickness, where theWounds, theBonds, theFireThatburns, thatbind, thathurt, I must desire.
“Fax grata est, gratum est vulnus, mihi grata Catena est,“Me quibus astringit, lædit & urit Amor;“Sed Flammam extingui, sanari Vulnera, sulvi“Vinc’la, etiam ut possem non ego posse velim:“Mirum equidem Genus hoc Morbi est, Incendia & Ictus“Vinc’laq; vinctus adhuc, læsus & ustus Amo.
“Fax grata est, gratum est vulnus, mihi grata Catena est,
“Me quibus astringit, lædit & urit Amor;
“Sed Flammam extingui, sanari Vulnera, sulvi
“Vinc’la, etiam ut possem non ego posse velim:
“Mirum equidem Genus hoc Morbi est, Incendia & Ictus
“Vinc’laq; vinctus adhuc, læsus & ustus Amo.
Grateful’s to me theFire, theWound, theChain,By whichLoveburns,Lovebinds, and givethPain:But for to quench thisFire, theseBondsto loose,TheseWoundsto heal, I would not, could I, choose:StrangeSickness, where theWounds, theBonds, theFireThatburns, thatbind, thathurt, I must desire.
Grateful’s to me theFire, theWound, theChain,
By whichLoveburns,Lovebinds, and givethPain:
But for to quench thisFire, theseBondsto loose,
TheseWoundsto heal, I would not, could I, choose:
StrangeSickness, where theWounds, theBonds, theFire
Thatburns, thatbind, thathurt, I must desire.
THEOmniscientCreator, at the Beginning, implanted in the Nature ofBoth Sexesthis Faculty ofLove, accompanied with a fervent Desire ofProcreation; furnishing them (for this Purpose) with proper adaptedOrgans, and other suitableMeansofGeneration: which, in themselves, are no lesswiseandwonderful, than the greatDesignof propagating the World by successiveGenerations, isprofoundandmiraculous; as willmore manifestly appear, by explaining theirOrder,Propriety, andDisposition, inSect. 4.Chap. 5, 6, &c.
ANDto compensate many subsequentGriefsthereupon,Natureadded toManandWomanan ardent Desire of mutualEmbraces, concomitated with certain alluringEnticementstoMultiplication; to the end that inCongressionthey might be so delightfully charme’d, as to forget, or at least vilipend and slight all other triflingAnnoyances.
THUS, in short,Naturehath cared and provided forPropagationandPosterity; not only in theHuman Race, but also in all otherSpeciesof Creatures, according to the excellentPoet[36];
“Omne adeo genus in terris hominúmq; Ferarúmq;“Et genus Æquoreum, pecudes, pictæq; Volucres,“In furias ignemq; ruunt:Amoromnibus idem.——“Quid Juvenis, &c.——Thus ev’ryCreature, and of ev’ryKind,The secret Joys of sweetCoitionfind:Not onlyMan’s imperial Race; but theyThat wing the liquidAir, or swim theSea,Or haunt theDesart, rush into theFlame:ForLoveis Lord of all; and is in all thesame.’Tis with this Rage, theMother-Lionstung,Scours o’er the Plain; regardless of her Young:DemandingRites of Love, she sternly stalks;And hunts herLover, in his lonely Walks.’Tis then the shapelessBearhis Den forsakes;In Woods and Fields a vast Destruction makes.Boarswhet their Tusks, to battleTygersmove,Enrag’d with Hunger, more enrag’d withLove.
“Omne adeo genus in terris hominúmq; Ferarúmq;“Et genus Æquoreum, pecudes, pictæq; Volucres,“In furias ignemq; ruunt:Amoromnibus idem.——“Quid Juvenis, &c.——Thus ev’ryCreature, and of ev’ryKind,The secret Joys of sweetCoitionfind:Not onlyMan’s imperial Race; but theyThat wing the liquidAir, or swim theSea,Or haunt theDesart, rush into theFlame:ForLoveis Lord of all; and is in all thesame.’Tis with this Rage, theMother-Lionstung,Scours o’er the Plain; regardless of her Young:DemandingRites of Love, she sternly stalks;And hunts herLover, in his lonely Walks.’Tis then the shapelessBearhis Den forsakes;In Woods and Fields a vast Destruction makes.Boarswhet their Tusks, to battleTygersmove,Enrag’d with Hunger, more enrag’d withLove.
“Omne adeo genus in terris hominúmq; Ferarúmq;“Et genus Æquoreum, pecudes, pictæq; Volucres,“In furias ignemq; ruunt:Amoromnibus idem.——“Quid Juvenis, &c.——
“Omne adeo genus in terris hominúmq; Ferarúmq;
“Et genus Æquoreum, pecudes, pictæq; Volucres,
“In furias ignemq; ruunt:Amoromnibus idem.——
“Quid Juvenis, &c.——
Thus ev’ryCreature, and of ev’ryKind,The secret Joys of sweetCoitionfind:Not onlyMan’s imperial Race; but theyThat wing the liquidAir, or swim theSea,Or haunt theDesart, rush into theFlame:ForLoveis Lord of all; and is in all thesame.
Thus ev’ryCreature, and of ev’ryKind,
The secret Joys of sweetCoitionfind:
Not onlyMan’s imperial Race; but they
That wing the liquidAir, or swim theSea,
Or haunt theDesart, rush into theFlame:
ForLoveis Lord of all; and is in all thesame.
’Tis with this Rage, theMother-Lionstung,Scours o’er the Plain; regardless of her Young:DemandingRites of Love, she sternly stalks;And hunts herLover, in his lonely Walks.
’Tis with this Rage, theMother-Lionstung,
Scours o’er the Plain; regardless of her Young:
DemandingRites of Love, she sternly stalks;
And hunts herLover, in his lonely Walks.
’Tis then the shapelessBearhis Den forsakes;In Woods and Fields a vast Destruction makes.Boarswhet their Tusks, to battleTygersmove,Enrag’d with Hunger, more enrag’d withLove.
’Tis then the shapelessBearhis Den forsakes;
In Woods and Fields a vast Destruction makes.
Boarswhet their Tusks, to battleTygersmove,
Enrag’d with Hunger, more enrag’d withLove.
BUTall ludicrous Diversions apart! I proceed hence to a necessaryConsequenceof this Noble NaturalPASSION;viz.