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Home  »  The Oxford Book of English Verse  »  397. To One persuading a Lady to Marriage

Arthur Quiller-Couch, ed. 1919. The Oxford Book of English Verse: 1250–1900.

Katherine Philips ('Orinda'). 1631–1664

397. To One persuading a Lady to Marriage

FORBEAR, bold youth; all ‘s heaven here, 
  And what you do aver 
To others courtship may appear, 
  ‘Tis sacrilege to her. 
She is a public deity;         5
  And were ‘t not very odd 
She should dispose herself to be 
  A petty household god? 
 
First make the sun in private shine 
  And bid the world adieu,  10
That so he may his beams confine 
  In compliment to you: 
But if of that you do despair, 
  Think how you did amiss 
To strive to fix her beams which are  15
  More bright and large than his.