William Walsh (poet)

I can endure my own despair,
   But not another’s hope.

William Walsh (6 October 1662 – 15 March 1708) of Abberley Hall, Worcestershire was an English poet and critic and a Whig politician who sat in the English and British House of Commons from 1698 to 1708.

Quotes

And sadly reflecting,
That a lover forsaken
   A new love may get,
But a neck when once broken
   Can never be set.

• But, mad with his love,
     To a precipice goes,
  Where a leap from above
     Would soon finish his woes.
  • "The Despairing Lover", st. 1

• And sadly reflecting,
  That a lover forsaken
     A new love may get,
  But a neck when once broken
     Can never be set.
  • "The Despairing Lover", st. 2
  • Variants: "Isn't easily set"

• But, bold, unconcerned
     At thoughts of the pain,
  He calmly returned
     To his cottage again.
  • "The Despairing Lover", st. 3

• Of all the torments, all the cares,
     With which our lives are curst;
  Of all the plagues a lover bears,
     Sure rivals are the worst!
  By partners in each other kind
     Afflictions easier grow;
  In love alone we hate to find
     Companions of our woe.
  • "Song (Of All the Torments)", st. 1

• How great soe’er your rigours are,
     With them alone I’ll cope;
  I can endure my own despair,
     But not another’s hope.
  • "Song (Of All the Torments)", st. 2
  • Poetical Miscellanies, vol. 5 (London, 1703), pp. 317, 326