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Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593)
from Hero and Leander
It lies not in our power to love, or hate,
For will in us is over-rulde by fate.
When two are stript long ere the course begin,
We wish that one should lose, the other win.
And one especially doo we affect,
Of two gold Ingots like in each respect,
The reason no man knowes, let it suffise,
What we behold is censur'd by our eyes.
Where both deliberat, the love is slight,
Who ever lov'd, that lov'd not at first sight?
This poem occurs about a third of the way through the First Sestyad
of Hero and Leander. The above version is a modernization of the
1598 edition:
Marlo[w]e, Christopher, and George Chapman. Hero and Leander.
London: Printed by Felix Kingston for Paul Linley, 1598.
(as found in the facsimile edition printed by Menston, England: The
Scolar Press Limited, 1970.)
It has been modernized only in the usage of "u" and "v", and the
replacement of "ie" or "i" by "y" in especiallie and eies.
Another modernization can be found, under the title, Who Ever Loved,
that Loved Not at First Sight? in:
Williams, Oscar, ed. Immortal Poems of the English Language
New York: Pocket Books, 1952
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