T. R. Smith, comp. Poetica Erotica: Rare and Curious Amatory Verse. 1921–22.
Love-in-idleness
By Thomas Lovell Beddoes (18031849)(1851) “SHALL I be your first love, lady, shall I be your first?I | |
Oh! then I’ll fall before you, down on my velvet knee, | |
And deeply bend my rosy head and press it upon thee, | |
And swear that there is nothing more, for which my heart doth thirst, | |
But a downy kiss, and pink, | 5 |
Between your lips’ soft chink.” | |
II “Yes, you shall be my first love, boy, and you shall be my first, | |
And I will raise you up again unto my bosom’s fold; | |
And when you kisses many one on lip and cheek have told, | |
I’ll let you loose upon the grass, to leave me if you durst; | 10 |
And so we’ll toy away | |
The night besides the day.” | |
III “But let me be your second love, but let me be your second, | |
For then I’ll tap so gently, dear, upon your window pane, | |
And creep between the curtains in, where never man has lain, | 15 |
And never leave thy gentle side till the morning star hath beckoned, | |
Held in the silken lace | |
Of thy young arms’ embrace.” | |
IV “Well thou shalt be my second love, yes, gentle boy, my second, | |
And I will wait at eve for thee all lonely in my bower, | 20 |
And yield unto thy kisses, like a bud to April’s shower, | |
From moonset till the tower-clock the hour of dawn hath reckoned, | |
And lock thee with my arms | |
All silent up in charms.” | |
V “No, I will be thy third love, lady, ay, I will be the third, | 25 |
And break upon thee, bathing, in woody place alone, | |
And catch thee to my saddle and ride o’er stream and stone, | |
And press thee well, and kiss thee well, and never speak a word, | |
’Till thou has yielded up | |
The first taste of love’s cup.” | 30 |
VI “Then thou shalt not be my first love, boy, nor my second, nor my third; | |
If thou’rt the first, I’ll laugh at thee and pierce thy flesh with thorns; | |
If the second, from my chamber pelt with jeering laugh and scorns; | |
And if thou darest be the third, I’ll draw my dirk unheard | |
And cut thy heart in two,— | 35 |
And then die, weeping you.” | |