T. R. Smith, comp. Poetica Erotica: Rare and Curious Amatory Verse. 1921–22.
O What Pleasure ’Tis to Find a Coy Heart
By Aphra Behn (1640–1689)| O WHAT pleasure, ’tis to find | |
| A coy heart melt by slow degrees | |
| When to yielding ’tis inclined, | |
| Yet her fear a ruin sees; | |
| When her tears do kindly flow | 5 |
| And her sighs do come and go! | |
| O how charming ’tis to meet | |
| Soft resistance from the fair, | |
| When her pride and wishes meet | |
| And by turns increase her care; | 10 |
| O how charming ’tis to know | |
| She would yield but can’t tell how! | |
| O how pretty is her scorn | |
| When, confused ’twixt love and shame, | |
| Still refusing, tho’ she burn, | 15 |
| The soft pressures of my flame! | |
| Her pride in her denial lies | |
| And mine is in my victories. | |