T. R. Smith, comp. Poetica Erotica: Rare and Curious Amatory Verse. 1921–22.
The Poet Loves a Mistress, but Not to Marry
By Robert Herrick (1591–1674)(Songs from Hesperides, 1648) |
I DO not love to wed, | |
| Though I do like to woo; | |
| And for a maidenhead | |
| I’ll beg and buy it too. | |
| I’ll praise and I’ll approve | 5 |
| Those maids that never vary; | |
| And fervently I’ll love, | |
| But yet I would not marry. | |
| I’ll hug, I’ll kiss, I’ll play, | |
| And, cock-like, hens I’ll tread, | 10 |
| And sport in any way | |
| But in the bridal bed: | |
| For why? that man is poor | |
| Who hath but one of many, | |
| But crown’d he is with store | 15 |
| That single may have any. | |
| Why then, say, what is he, | |
| To freedom so unknown, | |
| Who, having two or three, | |
| Will be content with one? | 20 |