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An EPISTLE from Alexander to Hephaestion in his Sickness.

1 WITH such a Pulse, with such disorder'd Veins,
2 Such lab'ring Breath, as thy Disease constrains;
3 With failing Eyes, that scarce the Light endure,
4 (So long unclos'd, they've watch'd thy doubtful Cure)
5 To his Hephaestion Alexander writes,
6 To soothe thy Days, and wing thy sleepless Nights.
7 I send thee Love: Oh! that I could impart,
8 As well my vital Spirits to thy Heart!
9 That, when the fierce Distemper thine wou'd quell,
10 They might renew the Fight, and the cold Foe repel.
11 As on Arbela's Plains we turn'd the Day,
12 When Persians through our Troops had mow'd their way,
13 When the rough Scythians on the Plunder run,
14 And barb'rous Shouts proclaim'd the Conquest won,
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15 'Till o'er my Head (to stop the swift Despair)
16 The Bird of Jove fans the supporting Air,
17 Above my Plume does his broad Wings display,
18 And follows wheresoe'er I force my way:
19 Whilst Aristander, in his Robe of White,
20 Shews to the wav'ring Host th' auspicious Sight;
21 New Courage it inspires in ev'ry Breast,
22 And wins at once the Empire of the East.
23 Cou'd He, but now, some kind Presage afford,
24 That Health might be again to Thee restor'd;
25 Thou to my Wishes, to my fond Embrace;
26 Thy Looks the same, the same Majestick Grace,
27 That round thee shone, when we together went
28 To chear the Royal Captives in their Tent,
29 Where Sysigambis, prostrate on the Floor,
30 Did Alexander in thy Form adore;
31 Above great Aesculapius shou'd he stand,
32 Or made immortal by Apelles Hand.
33 But no reviving Hope his Art allows,
34 And such cold Damps invade my anxious Brows,
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35 As, when in Cydnus plung'd, I dar'd the Flood
36 T' o'er-match the Boilings of my youthful Blood.
37 But Philip to my aid repair'd in haste;
38 And whilst the proffer'd Draught I boldly taste,
39 As boldly He the dangerous Paper views,
40 Which of hid Treasons does his Fame accuse.
41 More thy Physician's Life on Thine depends,
42 And what he gives, his Own preserves, or ends.
43 If thou expir'st beneath his fruitless Care,
44 To Rhadamanthus shall the Wretch repair,
45 And give strict Answer for his Errors there.
46 Near thy Pavilion list'ning Princes wait,
47 Seeking from thine to learn their Monarch's State.
48 Submitting Kings, that post from Day to Day,
49 To keep those Crowns, which at my Feet they lay,
50 Forget th' ambitious Subject of their Speed,
51 And here arriv'd, only Thy Dangers heed.
52 The Beauties of the Clime, now Thou'rt away,
53 Droop, and retire, as if their God of Day
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54 No more upon their early Pray'rs wou'd shine,
55 Or take their Incense, at his late Decline.
56 Thy Parisatis whom I fear to name,
57 Lest to thy Heat it add redoubl'd Flame;
58 Thy lovely Wife, thy Parisatis weeps,
59 And in her Grief a solemn Silence keeps.
60 Stretch'd in her Tent, upon the Floor she lies,
61 So pale her Looks, so motionless her Eyes,
62 As when they gave thee leave at first to gaze
63 Upon the Charms of her unguarded Face;
64 When the two beauteous Sisters lowly knelt,
65 And su'd to those, who more than Pity felt.
66 To chear her now Statira vainly proves,
67 And at thy Name alone she sighs, and moves.
68 But why these single Griefs shou'd I expose?
69 The World no Mirth, no War, no Bus'ness knows,
70 But, hush'd with Sorrow, stands, to favour thy Repose.
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71 Ev'n I my boasted Title now resign,
72 Not Ammon's Son, nor born of Race Divine,
73 But Mortal all, oppress'd with restless Fears,
74 Wild with my Cares, and Womanish in Tears.
75 Tho' Tears, before, I for lost Clytus shed,
76 And wept more Drops, than the old Hero bled;
77 Ev'n now, methinks, I see him on the Ground,
78 Now my dire Arms the wretched Corpse surround,
79 Now the fled Soul I wooe, now rave upon the Wound.
80 Yet He, for whom this mighty Grief did spring,
81 Not Alexander valu'd, but the King.
82 Then think, how much that Passion must transcend,
83 Which not a Subject raises but a Friend;
84 An equal Partner in the vanquish'd Earth,
85 A Brother, not impos'd upon my Birth,
86 Too weak a Tye unequal Thoughts to bind,
87 But by the gen'rous Motions of the Mind.
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88 My Love to thee for Empire was the Test,
89 Since him, who from Mankind cou'd chuse the best,
90 The Gods thought only fit for Monarch o'er the rest.
91 Live then, my Friend; but if that must not be,
92 Nor Fate will with my boundless Mind agree,
93 Affording, at one time, the World and Thee;
94 To the most Worthy I'll that Sway resign,
95 And in Elysium keep Hyphaestion mine.

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Title (in Source Edition): An EPISTLE from Alexander to Hephaestion in his Sickness.
Themes: love; war; illness; injury; friendship; ancient history
Genres: heroic couplet; epistle
References: DMI 3843

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Winchilsea, Anne Kingsmill Finch, Countess of, 1661-1720. Miscellany poems, on several occasions: Written by the Right Honble Anne, Countess of Winchilsea. London: printed for J. B. and sold by Benj. Tooke, William Taylor, and James Round, 1713, pp. 97-102. [8],390p. ; 8⁰. (ESTC T94539; Foxon pp. 274-5; OTA K076314.000) (Page images digitized from a copy in the Bodleian Library [Buxton 100].)

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The text has been typographically modernized, but without any silent modernization of spelling, capitalization, or punctuation. The source of the text is given and all editorial interventions have been recorded in textual notes. Based on the electronic text originally produced by the TCP project, this ECPA text has been edited to conform to the recommendations found in Level 5 of the Best Practices for TEI in Libraries version 4.0.0.

Other works by Anne Finch (née Kingsmill), countess of Winchilsea