Oh! gentle Caunus, quit thy hated line, Or let thy parents be no longer mine: Oh! that in common all things were enjoy’d, But those alone who have our hopes destroy’d. Were I a princess, thou an humble swain, The proudest kings should rival thee in vain. It cannot be: alas! the dreadful ill Is fix’d by fate, and he’s my brother still. Hear me, ye gods! I must have friends in heaven, For Jove himself was to a sister given: But what are their prerogatives above, To the short liberties of human love? Fantastic thoughts! down, down, forbidden fires, Or instant death extinguish my desires. Strict virtue, then, with thy malicious leave Without a crime, I may a kiss receive. But say, should I in spite of laws comply, Yet cruel Caunus might himself deny. Yet why should youth, and charms like mine, despair? Such fears ne’er startled the Aetolian pair; No ties of blood could their full hopes destroy, They broke through all for the prevailing joy; And who can tell but Caunus too may be Rack’d and tormented in his breast for me?