Imitated from the Spanish of Cervantes.

Kind Guardian! if you will, you may
With bolts, and bars, oppose my way;
In ev'ry nook set Guards, and Spies,
And watch me with their A RGUS -eyes;
But if my heart is fix'd on flight,
You may as well wish me good night.

By Sages, shrewd, it has been said,
'Tis wond'rous hard to hold a maid;
And Love, all furious when confin'd,
But fiercer fires the stubborn mind;
'Tis better then, since force is vain,
To turn the Lock, and loose the chain;
For if my heart is fix'd on flight,
You may as well wish me good night.'
If sov'reign Will commands to go,
What fool will face so rash a foe?

'Twill strike ev'n wakeful Caution blind,
And thro' Death's self a passage find;
Unheard-of means shall, straight, remove
All bars that hinder Woman's love;
So if my heart is fix'd on flight,
You may as well wish me good night.

As flies, tho' sure to scorch their frame,
Will wanton thro' the taper's flame;
So Love all danger will despise,
Resistless rushing to its Prize;
Then, if my mind is fix'd on flight,
You may as well wish me good night.

When I my purpose chuse to keep,
Severity, alas! may sleep:
A Lover's palm, like wax, is warm,
'Tis melting warm; his wish is fire;
No obstacles his patience tire;
But head will plot, and hand perform;
His eyes can talk; his careful feet
Are silence-shod, your ears to cheat;
And, as my mind is fix'd on flight,
You may as well wish me good night.