Thomas Humphry Ward, ed. The English Poets. 1880–1918.rnVol. II. The Seventeenth Century: Ben Jonson to Dryden

John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester (1647–1680)

Song: ‘My dear Mistress’

MY dear Mistress has a heart

Soft as those kind looks she gave me;

When, with love’s resistless art,

And her eyes, she did enslave me;

But her constancy ’s so weak,

She ’s so wild and apt to wander,

That my jealous heart would break

Should we live one day asunder.

Melting joys about her move,

Killing pleasures, wounding blisses,

She can dress her eyes in love,

And her lips can arm with kisses;

Angels listen when she speaks,

She ’s my delight, all mankind’s wonder,

But my jealous heart would break

Should we live one day asunder.