Note 144 — THE FIRST POETIC PERIOD
Reading edition
The 1786 version ended as follows:
Thyrsis For you I would forego my ease, And traverse lakes, or ravage seas, And dress in lace, or what you please. This enchanting month of May, So bright, so bloomy, and so gay, Claims our nuptials on this day. For her vernal triumphs, we Tune the harp to symphony— Conquest has attended me. Brightest season for the mind, Vigorous, free, and unconfin'd, Golden age of human kind. Still at variance with thy charms Death's eternal empire stands— Hymen, come—while rapture warms, And give Lucinda to my arms.