dots-menu
×

Home  »  Poetica Erotica  »  The Lucky Minute

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

The Lucky Minute

By John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester (1647–1680)
 
(Published c. 1670)

AS Chloris, full of harmless Thought,
  Beneath a Willow lay,
Kind Love a youthful Shepherd brought,
  To pass the Time away.
 
She blushed to be encountered so,        5
  And chid the am’rous Swain;
But, as she strove to rise and go,
  He pulled her down again.
 
A sudden Passion seized her Heart,
  In spite of her Disdain;        10
She felt a Pulse in ev’ry Part,
  And Love in ev’ry Vein.
 
Oh Youth! said she, what Charms are these,
  That conquer and surprise?
Oh! let me—for, unless you please,        15
  I have no Power to rise.
 
She fainting spoke, and trembling lay,
  For fear he should comply;
Her lovely Eyes her Heart betray,
  And gave her Tongue the Lie.        20
 
Thus she, who Princess had denied,
  With all their Pomp and Train,
Was in the lucky Minute tried,
  And yielded to the Swain.