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

Song from “The Old Bachelor”

By William Congreve (1670–1729)


THUS, to a ripe consenting maid,
Poor, old, repenting Delia said:—
Would you long preserve your lover?
Would you still his goddess reign?
Never let him all discover,	5
Never let him much obtain.

Men will admire, adore, and die,
While wishing at your feet they lie:
But admitting their embraces
Wakes ’em from the golden dream;	10
Nothing’s new besides our faces,
Every woman is the same.