| William Stanley Braithwaite, ed. The Book of Restoration Verse. 1910. | | | | The Fair Stranger | | By John Dryden (1631–1700) |
| | | HAPPY and free, securely blest, | |
| No beauty could disturb my rest; | |
| My amorous heart was in despair, | |
| To find a new victorious fair: | |
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| Till you, descending on our plains, | 5 |
| With foreign force renew my chains; | |
| Where now you rule without control, | |
| The mighty sovereign of my soul. | |
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| Your smiles have more of conquering charms | |
| Than all your native country’s arms: | 10 |
| Their troops we can expel with ease, | |
| Who vanquish only when we please. | |
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| But in your eyes, oh, there’s the spell! | |
| Who can see them, and not rebel? | |
| You make us captives by your stay, | 15 |
| Yet kill us if you go away. | | | | |
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