Classic Poem

Question . From whence was first this fury hurl'd,
This jealousy, into the world?
Came she from hell? Answer . No, there doth reign
Eternal hatred, with disdain;
But she the daughter is of Love,
Sister of Beauty. Question . Then above
She must derive from the third sphere
Her heavenly offspring? Answer . Neither there,
From those immortal flames, could she
Draw her cold frozen pedigree.
Question . If nor from heaven nor hell, where then
Had she her birth? Answer . I' th' hearts of men.
Beauty and Fear did her create,
Younger than Love, elder than Hate,
Sister to both; by Beauty's side
To Love, by Fear to Hate, allied.
Despair her issue is, whose race
Of fruitful mischiefs drowns the space
Of the wide earth in a swoln flood
Of wrath, revenge, spite, rage, and blood.
Question . Oh, how can such a spurious line
Proceed from parents so divine?
Answer . As streams which from their crystal spring
Do sweet and clear their waters bring,
Yet, mingling with the brackish main,
Nor taste nor colour they retain.
Question . Yet rivers 'twixt their own banks flow
Still fresh; can Jealousy do so?
Answer . Yes, whilst she keeps the steadfast ground
Of Hope and Fear, her equal bound.
Hope sprung from favour, worth, or chance,
Towards the fair object doth advance;
Whilst Fear, as watchful sentinel,
Doth the invading foe repel:
And Jealousy, thus mix'd, doth prove
The season and the salt of love.
But when Fear takes a larger scope,
Stifling the child of Reason, Hope,
Then, sitting on th' usurped throne,
She like a tyrant rules alone:
As the wild ocean unconfined,
And raging as the northern wind.