| 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. | | | | |
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