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Home  »  Poetica Erotica  »  I Burn, I Burn, I Burn

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

I Burn, I Burn, I Burn

By Thomas D’Urfey (1653–1723)
 
(From Don Quixote, 1707)

  I BURN, I burn, I burn, I burn, I burn,
  I burn, I burn, I burn, I burn, I burn,
  My Brain consumes to Ashes,
  Each Eye-ball too like Lightning flashes,
  Like Lightning flashes;        5
Within my Breast there glows a solid Fire,
Which in a thousand, thousand Ages can’t expire.
 
  Blow, blow, blow,
  Blow the Winds, great Ruler, blow,
  Bring the Po and the Ganges hither,        10
  ’Tis sultry, sultry, sultry Weather;
Pour ’em all on my Soul, it will hiss,
  It will hiss like a Coal,
  But never, never be the cooler.
 
’Twas pride, hot as Hell, that first made me rebel,        15
From Love’s awful Throne a curst Angel I fell;
  And mourn now the Fate,
  Which my self did create,
Fool, Fool, that consider’d not when I was well;
  And mourn now the Fate,        20
  Which my self did create,
Fool, Fool, that consider’d not when I was well.
 
  Adieu, adieu, transporting Joys,
  Adieu, adieu, transporting Joys;
  Off, off, off, ye vain fantastic Toys,        25
  Off, off, ye vain fantastic Toys,
That drap’d this Face and Body to allure,
  Bring, bring me Daggers,
  Poison, Fire, Fire, Daggers, Poison, Fire,
  For Scorn is turn’d into Desire;        30
  All Hell, all Hell feels not the Rage,
Which I, poor I, which I, poor I, endure.