It is possible that some word of me
may have come to you, even though this is doubtful since an insignificant
and obscure name will scarcely penetrate far in either time or space. If,
however, you should have heard of me you may desire to know what manner of
man I was. I was, in truth, a poor mortal like yourself, neither
very exalted in my origin, nor, on the, hand of the most humble birth. My
youth was gone before I realized it. I was carried away by the strength of
manhood. But a riper age brought me to my senses and taught me by
experience the truth I had long before read in books--that youth and
pleasure are vanity. -Letter to Posterity
My one true
love, Laura
Seventeen years the
heavens have revolved since I first burned with fire that rages still;
when I think of the state that I am in I feel a chill within those flames
of mine. Will that day ever come when the sweet air about her
lovely visage pleases these eyes no more than I would wish and as is
fitting.
Sacred and
Profane Love
broken the faith of
amorous deceptions and made two separate parts of all my good- one in
Heaven, the other in the ground- and lost the profits of my painful gains
