Hero and Leander

Hero and Leander (final verse)

It lies not in our power to love or hate,
For will in us is over-rul’d by fate.
When two are stript, long ere the course begin,
We wish that one should lose, the other win;
And one especially do we affect
Of two gold ingots, like in each respect:
The reason no man knows, let it suffice,
What we behold is censur’d by our eyes.
Where both deliberate, the love is slight:
Who ever lov’d, that lov’d not at first sight?

— Christopher Marlowe, from The Complete Poems and Translations
This poem is offered as part of our June theme: Shakespeare & Company

T. S. Poetry

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