Eloisa to Abelard

I come, I come! prepare your roseat bow'rs,

Celestial palm, and ever-blooming flow'rs.

Thither, were sinners may have rest, I go,

Where flames refin'd in breasts seraphic glow:

Thou, Abelard! the last sad office pay,

And smooth my passage to the realms of day;

See my lips tremble, and my eye-balk roll,

Suck my last breath, and catch the flying soul!

Ah no——in sacred vestments may'st thou stand,

The hallow'd taper trembling in thy hand,

Present the Cross before my lifted eye,

Teach me at once, and learn of me to die.

Ah then, the once lov'd Eloisa see!

It will be then no crime to gaze on me.

See from my cheek the transient roses fly!

See the last sparkle languish in my eye!

'Till ev'ry motion, pulse, and breath be o'er;

And ev'n my Abelard. be lov'd no more.

O death, all eloquent! you only prove

What dust we dote on, when 'tis man we love.

Then too, when Fate shall thy fair frame destroy?

(That cause of all my guilt, and all my joy)

In trance ecstatic may the pangs be drown'd,

Bright clouds descend, and angels watch thee round,

From opening skies may streaming glories shine,

And saints embrace thee with a love like mine.