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Home  »  Poetica Erotica  »  As I Walked in the Woods

T. R. Smith, comp. Poetica Erotica: Rare and Curious Amatory Verse. 1921–22.

As I Walked in the Woods

By Thomas Shadwell (1642–1692)
 
(From The Miser, Act II, Scene 2. 1672)

AS I walked in the woods one evening of late,
A Lass was deploring her hapless estate,
She sighed, and she sobbed, Ah, wretched, she said;
Will no youth come to succour a languishing Maid?
Shall I still sigh and cry, and look pale and wan,        5
And languish for ever for want of a man?
 
At first when I saw a young man in the place,
My color would fade, and then flush in my face,
My breath would grow short, and I shivered all o’er;
I thought ’twas an Ague, but Alas it was more,        10
For e’re since I’ve sighed, and do what I can,
I find I must languish for want of a man.
 
When in bed all the night I weep on my Pillow,
To see others happy, while I wear the Willow;
I revenge myself on the innocent sheet,        15
Where in rage I have oftentimes made my Teeth meet:
But all this won’t serve, let me do what I can,
I find I must languish for want of a man.
 
Now all my fresh color deserted my face,
And let a pale greenness succeed in the place,        20
I pine and grow faint, and refuse all my meat,
And nothing but Chalk, Lime, or Oatmeal, can eat:
But in my despair I’ll die if I can,
And languish no longer for want of a man.