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Home  »  The Poems of John Dryden  »  “Wherever I am, and whatever I doe,” from The Conquest of Granada

John Dryden (1631–1700). The Poems of John Dryden. 1913.

Songs from the Plays

“Wherever I am, and whatever I doe,” from The Conquest of Granada

1
WHEREVER I am, and whatever I doe,

My Phillis is still in my mind:

When angry I mean not to Phillis to goe,

My Feet of themselves the way find:

Unknown to my self I am just at her door,

And when I would raile, I can bring out no more,

Than Phillis too fair and unkind!

2
When Phillis I see, my Heart bounds in my Breast,

And the Love I wou’d stifle is shown:

But asleep, or awake, I am never at Rest

When from my Eyes Phillis is gone!

Sometimes a sad Dream does delude my sad mind,

But, alas, when I wake and no Phillis I find

How I sigh to my self all alone.

3
Should a King be my Rival in her I adore

He should offer his Treasure in vain:

O let me alone to be happy and poor,

And give me my Phillis again:

Let Phillis be mine, and but ever be kind

I could to a Desart with her be confin’d,

And envy no Monarch his Raign.

4
Alas, I discover too much of my Love,

And she too well knows her own power!

She makes me each day a new Martydom prove,

And makes me grow jealous each hour:

But let her each minute torment my poor mind

I had rather love Phillis both False and Unkind,

Than ever be freed from her Pow’r.