OF SYLVIA.
Reading edition
1 Our sighs are heard; just Heaven declares The sense it has of lovers' cares; She that so far the rest outshined, Sylvia the fair, while she was kind, As if her frowns impair'd her brow, Seems only not unhandsome now. So, when the sky makes us endure A storm, itself becomes obscure.
2 Hence 'tis that I conceal my flame, Hiding from Flavia's self her name, Lest she, provoking Heaven, should prove How it rewards neglected love. Better a thousand such as I, Their grief untold, should pine and die; Than her bright morning, overcast With sullen clouds, should be defaced.