| John Dryden (1631–1700). The Poems of John Dryden. 1913. | | | | Songs from the Plays | | “Fair Iris I love and hourly I dye,” from Amphitryon |
| | I FAIR Iris I love and hourly I dye, | |
| But not for a Lip nor a languishing Eye: | |
| She’s fickle and false, and there I agree; | |
| For I am as false and as fickle as she: | |
| We neither believe what either can say; | 5 |
| And, neither believing, we neither betray. | |
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II ’Tis civil to swear and say Things of course; | |
| We mean not the taking for better or worse. | |
| When present we love, when absent agree; | |
| I think not of Iris, nor Iris of me: | 10 |
| The Legend of Love no Couple can find | |
| So easie to part, or so equally join’d. | | | | |
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