Freely we serveBecause we freely love, as in our willTo love or not; in this we stand or fall.

Henceforth an individual solace dear; Part of my Soul I seek thee, and thee claim My other half: with that thy gentle hand Seisd mine, I yielded, and from that time see How beauty is excelld by manly grace.

Be strong, live happy and love, but first of allHim whom to love is to obey, and keepHis great command!

Whom hast thou then, or what, to accuse,but heaven's free love dealt equally t'all?

So hand in hand they passed, the loveliest pair that ever since in love's embraces met -- Adam, the goodliest man of men since born his sons; the fairest of her daughters Eve.

but what if God have seen,And death ensue? then I shall be no more,And Adam wedded to another Eve,Shall live with her enjoying, I extinct;A death to think. Confirmed then I resolve,Adam shall share with me in bliss or woe:So dear I love him, that with him all deathsI could endure, without him live no life.

How can I live without thee, how forego Thy sweet converse, and love so dearly joined, To live again in these wild woods forlorn?Should God create another Eve, and I Another rib afford, yet loss of thee Would never from my heart; no, no, I feel The link of nature draw me: flesh of flesh, Bone of my bone thou art, and from thy stateMine never shall be parted, bliss or woe.

Yet not so strictly hath our Lord impos'd /Labor, as to debar when we need /Refreshment, whether food, or talk between,/ food of the mind, or this sweet intercourse/Of looks and smiles, for smiles from Reason flow,/To brutes denied, and are of Love the food, Love not the lowest end of human life. For not to irksome toil, but to delight/ He made us, and delight to reason join'd.

L'amor che move il sole e l'altre stelle