Full text

Pope, Alexander, 1688-1744: [from The Works (1736)]
VOL. I. WITH Explanatory Notes and Additions never before printed.
Pope, Alexander, 1688-1744:

ELOISA TO ABELARD. [from The Works (1736)]

Pope, Alexander, 1688-1744: ELOISA TO ABELARD. [from The Works (1736)]

[Page 176]

The ARGUMENT.

Abelard and Eloisa flourish'd in the twelfth Century; they were two of the most distinguish'd persons of their age in learning and beauty, but for nothing more famous than for their unfortunate passion. After a long course of Calamities, they retired each to a several Convent, and consecrated the remainder of their days to religion. It was many years after this separation, that a letter of Abelard's to a Friend, which contain'd the history of his misfortune, fell into the hands of Eloisa. This awakening all her tenderness, occasion'd those celebrated letters (out of which the following is partly extracted) which give so lively a picture of the struggles of grace and nature, virtue and passion.

[Page 177]

1            In these deep solitudes and awful cells,
2            Where heav'nly-pensive, contemplation dwells,
3            And ever-musing melancholy reigns;
4            What means this tumult in a Vestal's veins?
5            Why rove my thoughts beyond this last retreat?
6            Why feels my heart its long-forgotten heat?
7            Yet, yet I love!---From Abelard it came,
8            And Eloïsa yet must kiss the name.

9            Dear fatal name! rest ever unreveal'd,
10          Nor pass these lips in holy silence seal'd:
11          Hide it, my heart, within that close disguise,
12          Where mix'd with God's, his lov'd Idea lies:
13          Oh write it not, my hand---the name appears
14          Already written---wash it out, my tears!
15          In vain lost Eloïsa weeps and prays,
16          Her heart still dictates, and her hand obeys.

17          Relentless walls! whose darksom round contains
18          Repentant sighs, and voluntary pains:

[Page 178]

19          Ye rugged rocks! which holy knees have worn;
20          Ye grots and caverns shagg'd with horrid thorn!
21          Shrines! where their vigils pale-ey'd virgins keep,
22          And pitying saints, whose statues learn to weep!
23          Tho' cold like you, unmov'd and silent grown,
24          I have not yet forgot my self to stone.
25          Heav'n claims me all in vain, while he has part,
26          Still rebel nature holds out half my heart;
27          Nor pray'rs nor fasts its stubborn pulse restrain,
28          Nor tears, for ages, taught to flow in vain.

29          Soon as thy letters trembling I unclose,
30          That well-known name awakens all my woes.
31          Oh name for ever sad! for ever dear!
32          Still breath'd in sighs, still usher'd with a tear.
33          I tremble too where'er my own I find,
34          Some dire misfortune follows close behind.
35          Line after line my gushing eyes o'erflow,
36          Led thro' a sad variety of woe:
37          Now warm in love, now with'ring in thy bloom,
38          Lost in a convent's solitary gloom!
39          There stern Religion quench'd th'unwilling flame,
40          There dy'd the best of passions, Love and Fame.

41          Yet write, oh write me all, that I may join
42          Griefs to thy griefs, and echo sighs to thine.
43          Nor foes nor fortune take this pow'r away;
44          And is my Abelard less kind than they?
45          Tears still are mine, and those I need not spare,
46          Love but demands what else were shed in pray'r;
47          No happier task these faded eyes pursue;
48          To read and weep is all they now can do.

[Page 179]

49          Then share thy pain, allow that sad relief;
50          Ah, more than share it! give me all thy grief.
51          Heav'n first taught letters for some wretch's aid,
52          Some banish'd lover, or some captive maid;
53          They live, they speak, they breathe what love inspires,
54          Warm from the soul, and faithful to its fires,
55          The virgin's wish without her fears impart,
56          Excuse the blush, and pour out all the heart,
57          Speed the soft intercourse from soul to soul,
58          And waft a sigh from Indus to the Pole.

59          Thou know'st how guiltless first I met thy flame,
60          When Love approach'd me under Friendship's name;
61          My fancy form'd thee of angelick kind,
62          Some Emanation of th'all-beauteous Mind.
63          Those smiling eyes, attemp'ring ev'ry ray,
64          Shone sweetly lambent with celestial day.
65          Guiltless I gaz'd; heav'n listen'd while you sung;
66          And truths ^{[Footnote: 1Kb]}

divine came mended from that tongue.
67          From lips like those what precept fail'd to move?
68          Too soon they taught me 'twas no sin to love:
69          Back thro' the paths of pleasing sense I ran,
70          Nor wish'd an Angel whom I lov'd a Man.
71          Dim and remote the joys of saints I see;
72          Nor envy them that heav'n I lose for thee.

73          How oft', when prest to marriage, have I said,
74          Curse on all laws but those which love has made?

[Page 180]

75          Love, free as air, at sight of human ties,
76          Spreads his light wings, and in a moment flies.
77          Let wealth, let honour, wait the wedded dame,
78          August her deed, and sacred be her fame;
79          Before true passion all those views remove,
80          Fame, wealth, and honour! what are you to Love?
81          The jealous God, when we profane his fires,
82          Those restless passions in revenge inspires,
83          And bids them make mistaken mortals groan,
84          Who seek in love for ought but love alone.
85          Should at my feet the world's great master fall,
86          Himself, his throne, his world, I'd scorn 'em all:
87          Not Cæsar's empress wou'd I deign to prove;
88          No, make me mistress to the man I love;
89          If there be yet another name, more free,
90          More fond than mistress, make me that to thee!
91          Oh happy state! when souls each other draw,
92          When love is liberty, and nature, law:
93          All then is full, possessing, and possess'd,
94          No craving void left aking in the breast:
95          Ev'n thought meets thought, e'er from the lips it part,
96          And each warm wish springs mutual from the heart.
97          This sure is bliss (if bliss on earth there be)
98          And once the lot of Abelard and me.

99          Alas how chang'd! what sudden horrors rise?
100        A naked Lover bound and bleeding lies!
101        Where, where was Eloïse? her voice, her hand,
102        Her ponyard, had oppos'd the dire command.
103        Barbarian stay! that bloody stroke restrain;
104        The crime was common, common be the pain.

[Page 181]

105        I can no more; by shame, by rage suppress'd,
106        Let tears, and burning blushes speak the rest.

107        Canst thou forget that sad, that solemn day,
108        When victims at yon' altar's foot we lay?
109        Canst thou forget what tears that moment fell,
110        When, warm in youth, I bade the world farewell?
111        As with cold lips I kiss'd the sacred veil,
112        The shrines all trembled, and the lamps grew pale:
113        Heav'n scarce believ'd the conquest it survey'd,
114        And Saints with wonder heard the vows I made.
115        Yet then, to those dread altars as I drew,
116        Not on the Cross my eyes were fix'd, but you:
117        Not grace, or zeal, love only was my call,
118        And if I lose thy love, I lose my all.
119        Come! with thy looks, thy words, relieve my woe;
120        Those still at least are left thee to bestow.
121        Still on that breast enamour'd let me lie,
122        Still drink delicious poison from thy eye,
123        Pant on thy lip, and to thy heart be press'd;
124        Give all thou canst---and let me dream the rest.
125        Ah no! instruct me other joys to prize,
126        With other beauties charm my partial eyes,
127        Full in my view set all the bright abode,
128        And make my soul quit Abelard for God.

129        Ah think at least thy flock deserves thy care,
130        Plants of thy hand, and children of thy pray'r.
131        From the false world in early youth they fled,
132        By thee to mountains, wilds, and deserts led.

[Page 182]

133        You ^{[Footnote: 1Kb]}

rais'd these hallow'd walls; the desert smil'd,
134        And Paradise was open'd in the Wild.
135        No weeping orphan saw his father's stores
136        Our shrines irradiate, or emblaze the floors;
137        No silver saints, by dying misers given,
138        Here bribe'd the rage of ill-requited heav'n:
139        But such plain roofs as Piety could raise,
140        And only vocal with the Maker's praise.
141        In these lone walls (their day's eternal bound)
142        These moss-grown domes with spiry turrets crown'd,
143        Where awful arches make a noon-day night,
144        And the dim windows shed a solemn light;
145        Thy eyes diffus'd a reconciling ray,
146        And gleams of glory brighten'd all the day.
147        But now no face divine contentment wears,
148        'Tis all blank sadness, or continual tears.
149        See how the force of others pray'rs I try,
150        (Oh pious fraud of am'rous charity!)
151        But why should I on others pray'rs depend?
152        Come thou, my father, brother, husband, friend!
153        Ah let thy handmaid, sister, daughter move,
154        And, all those tender names in one, thy love!
155        The darksome pines that o'er yon' rocks reclin'd
156        Wave high, and murmur to the hollow wind,
157        The wand'ring streams that shine between the hills,
158        The grots that echo to the tinkling rills,
159        The dying gales that pant upon the trees,
160        The lakes that quiver to the curling breeze;

[Page 183]

161        No more these scenes my meditation aid,
162        Or lull to rest the visionary maid.
163        But o'er the twilight groves, and dusky caves,
164        Long-sounding isles, and intermingled graves,
165        Black Melancholy sits, and round her throws
166        A death-like silence, and a dread repose:
167        Her gloomy presence saddens all the scene,
168        Shades ev'ry flow'r, and darkens ev'ry green,
169        Deepens the murmur of the falling floods,
170        And breathes a browner horror on the woods.

171        Yet here for ever, ever must I stay;
172        Sad proof how well a lover can obey!
173        Death, only death, can break the lasting chain;
174        And here ev'n then, shall my cold dust remain,
175        Here all its frailties, all its flames resign,
176        And wait, 'till 'tis no sin to mix with thine.

177        Ah wretch! believ'd the spouse of God in vain,
178        Confess'd within the slave of love and man.
179        Assist me heav'n! but whence arose that pray'r?
180        Sprung it from piety, or from despair?
181        Ev'n here, where frozen chastity retires,
182        Love finds an altar for forbidden fires.
183        I ought to grieve, but cannot what I ought;
184        I mourn the lover, not lament the fault;
185        I view my crime, but kindle at the view,
186        Repent old pleasures, and sollicit new;
187        Now turn'd to heav'n, I weep my past offence,
188        Now think of thee, and curse my innocence.
189        Of all affliction taught a lover yet,
190        'Tis sure the hardest science, to forget!

[Page 184]

191        How shall I lose the sin, yet keep the sense,
192        And love th'offender, yet detest th'offence?
193        How the dear object from the crime remove,
194        Or how distinguish penitence from love?
195        Unequal task! a passion to resign,
196        For hearts so touch'd, so pierc'd, so lost as mine.
197        E'er such a soul regains its peaceful state,
198        How often must it love, how often hate!
199        How often hope, despair, resent, regret,
200        Conceal, disdain---do all things but forget.
201        But let heav'n seize it, all at once 'tis fir'd,
202        Not touch'd, but rapt; not waken'd, but inspir'd!
203        Oh come! oh teach me nature to subdue,
204        Renounce my love, my life, my self---and you.
205        Fill my fond heart with God alone, for he
206        Alone, can rival, can succeed to thee.

207        How happy is the blameless Vestal's lot?
208        The world forgetting, by the world forgot:
209        Eternal sun-shine of the spotless mind!
210        Each pray'r accepted, and each wish resign'd;
211        Labour and rest, that equal periods keep;
212        'Obedient slumbers that can wake and weep;
213        Desires compos'd, affections ever even;
214        Tears that delight, and sighs that waft to heav'n.
215        Grace shines around her with serenest beams,
216        And whisp'ring Angels prompt her golden dreams.
217        For her the Spouse prepares the bridal ring,
218        For her white virgins Hymenæals sing,
219        For her th'unfading rose of Eden blooms,
220        And wings of Seraphs shed divine perfumes,

[Page 185]

221        To sounds of heav'nly harps she dies away,
222        And melts in visions of eternal day.

223        Far other dreams my erring soul employ,
224        Far other raptures, of unholy joy:
225        When at the close of each sad, sorrowing day,
226        Fancy restores what vengeance snatch'd away,
227        Then conscience sleeps, and leaving nature free,
228        All my loose soul unbounded springs to thee.
229        O curst, dear horrors of all-conscious night!
230        How glowing guilt exalts the keen delight!
231        Provoking Dæmons all restraint remove,
232        And stir within me ev'ry source of love.
233        I hear thee, view thee, gaze o'er all thy charms,
234        And round thy phantom glue my clasping arms.
235        I wake:---no more I hear, no more I view,
236        The phantom flies me, as unkind as you.
237        I call aloud; it hears not what I say;
238        I stretch my empty arms; it glides away.
239        To dream once more I close my willing eyes;
240        Ye soft illusions, dear deceits, arise!
241        Alas, no more!---methinks we wand'ring go
242        Thro' dreary wastes, and weep each other's woe,
243        Where round some mould'ring tow'r pale ivy creeps,
244        And low-brow'd rocks hang nodding o'er the deeps.
245        Sudden you mount, you beckon from the skies;
246        Clouds interpose, waves roar, and winds arise.
247        I shriek, start up, the same sad prospect find,
248        And wake to all the griefs I left behind.

249        For thee the fates, severely kind, ordain
250        A cool suspense from pleasure and from pain;

[Page 186]

251        Thy life a long, dead calm of fix'd repose;
252        No pulse that riots, and no blood that glows.
253        Still as the sea, e'er winds were taught to blow,
254        Or moving spirit bade the waters flow;
255        Soft as the slumbers of a saint forgiv'n,
256        And mild as opening gleams of promis'd heav'n.

257        Come Abelard! for what hast thou to dread?
258        The torch of Venus burns not for the dead.
259        Nature stands check'd; Religion disapproves;
260        Ev'n thou art cold---yet Eloïsa loves.
261        Ah hopeless, lasting flames! like those that burn
262        To light the dead, and warm th'unfruitful urn.

263        What scenes appear, where-e'er I turn my view,
264        The dear Ideas where I fly, pursue,
265        Rise in the grove, before the altar rise,
266        Stain all my soul, and wanton in my eyes.
267        I waste the Matin lamp in sighs for thee,
268        Thy image steals between my God and me,
269        Thy voice I seem in ev'ry hymn to hear,
270        With ev'ry bead I drop too soft a tear.
271        When from the censer clouds of fragrance roll,
272        And swelling organs lift the rising soul,
273        One thought of thee puts all the pomp to flight,
274        Priests, tapers, temples, swim before my sight:
275        In seas of flame my plunging soul is drown'd,
276        While Altars blaze, and Angels tremble round.

277        While prostrate here in humble grief I lie,
278        Kind, virtuous drops just gath'ring in my eye,

[Page 187]

279        While praying, trembling, in the dust I roll,
280        And dawning grace is opening on my soul:
281        Come, if thou dar'st, all charming as thou art!
282        Oppose thy self to heav'n; dispute my heart;
283        Come, with one glance of those deluding eyes
284        Blot out each bright Idea of the skies;
285        Take back that grace, those sorrows, and those tears;
286        Take back my fruitless penitence and pray'rs;
287        Snatch me, just mounting, from the blest abode;
288        Assist the fiends, and tear me from my God!

289        No, fly me, fly me! far as Pole from Pole;
290        Rise Alps between us! and whole oceans roll!
291        Ah, come not, write not, think not once of me,
292        Nor share one pang of all I felt for thee.
293        Thy oaths I quit, thy memory resign;
294        Forget, renounce me, hate whate'er was mine.
295        Fair eyes, and tempting looks (which yet I view!)
296        Long lov'd, ador'd ideas, all adieu!
297        O grace serene! oh virtue heav'nly fair!
298        Divine oblivion of low-thoughted care!
299        Fresh blooming hope, gay daughter of the sky!
300        And faith, our early immortality!
301        Enter, each mild, each amicable guest;
302        Receive, and wrap me in eternal rest!

303        See in her cell sad Eloïsa spread,
304        Propt on some tomb, a neighbour of the dead!
305        In each low wind methinks a Spirit calls,
306        And more than Echoes talk along the walls.
307        Here, as I watch'd the dying lamps around,
308        From yonder shrine I heard a hollow sound.

[Page 188]

309        'Come, sister, come! (it said, or seem'd to say)
310        'Thy place is here, sad sister, come away!
311        'Once like thy self, I trembled, wept, and pray'd,
312        'Love's victim then, tho' now a sainted maid:
313        'But all is calm in this eternal sleep;
314        'Here grief forgets to groan, and love to weep,
315        'Ev'n Superstition loses ev'ry fear:
316        'For God, not man, absolves our frailties here.'

317        I come, I come! prepare your roseate bow'rs,
318        Celestial palms, and ever-blooming flow'rs.
319        Thither, where sinners may have rest, I go,
320        Where flames refin'd in breasts seraphic glow:
321        Thou, Abelard! the last sad office pay,
322        And smooth my passage to the realms of day;
323        See my lips tremble, and my eye-balls roll,
324        Suck my last breath, and catch the flying soul!
325        Ah no---in sacred vestments may'st thou stand,
326        The hallow'd taper trembling in thy hand,
327        Present the Cross before my lifted eye,
328        Teach me at once, and learn of me to die.
329        Ah then, thy once lov'd Eloïsa see!
330        It will be then no crime to gaze on me.
331        See from my cheek the transient roses fly!
332        See the last sparkle languish in my eye!
333        'Till ev'ry motion, pulse, and breath, be o'er;
334        And ev'n my Abelard belov'd no more.
335        O Death all-eloquent! you only prove
336        What dust we doat on, when 'tis man we love.

[Page 189]

337        Then too, when fate shall thy fair frame destroy,
338        (That cause of all my guilt, and all my joy)
339        In trance extatic may thy pangs be drown'd,
340        Bright clouds descend, and Angels watch thee round,
341        From opening skies may streaming glories shine,
342        And Saints embrace thee with a love like mine.

343        May ^{[Footnote: 1Kb]}

one kind grave unite each hapless name,
344        And graft my love immortal on thy fame!
345        Then, ages hence, when all my woes are o'er,
346        When this rebellious heart shall beat no more;
347        If ever chance two wand'ring lovers brings
348        To Paraclete's white walls and silver springs,
349        O'er the pale marble shall they join their heads,
350        And drink the falling tears each other sheds;
351        Then sadly say, with mutual pity mov'd,
352        "Oh may we never love as these have lov'd!
353        From the full quire when loud Hosanna's rise,
354        And swell the pomp of dreadful sacrifice,
355        Amid that scene, if some relenting eye
356        Glance on the stone where our cold relicks lie,
357        Devotion's self shall steal a thought from heav'n,
358        One human tear shall drop, and be forgiv'n.
359        And sure if fate some future bard shall join
360        In sad similitude of griefs to mine,

[Page 190]

361        Condemn'd whole years in absence to deplore,
362        And image charms he must behold no more;
363        Such if there be, who loves so long, so well;
364        Let him our sad, our tender story tell;
365        The well-sung woes will sooth my pensive ghost;
366        He best can paint 'em, who shall feel 'em most.