| T. R. Smith, comp. Poetica Erotica: Rare and Curious Amatory Verse. 1921–22. | | | | Calm Was the Evening, and Clear Was the Sky | | By John Dryden (1631–1700) |
| | (From An Evening’s Love, 1671)
CALM was the Evening, and clear was the Sky, | |
| And the new-budding Flowers did spring, | |
| When all alone went Amyntas and I | |
| To hear the sweet Nightingale sing. | |
| I sate, and he laid him down by me, | 5 |
| And scarcely his breath he could draw, | |
| But when with a fear, | |
| He began to draw near, | |
| He was dash’d with A ha, ha, ha. | |
| |
| He blush’d to himself, and lay still for awhile, | 10 |
| And his modesty curb’d his desire, | |
| But straight I convinc’d all his fears with a smile, | |
| Which added new flames to his fire. | |
| O Sylvia, said he, you are cruel, | |
| To keep your poor Lover in awe, | 15 |
| Then once more he prest | |
| With his hands to my breast, | |
| But was dash’d with A ha, ha, ha. | |
| |
| I knew ’twas his passion that caus’d all his fear, | |
| And therefore I pitied his case, | 20 |
| I whisper’d him softly, there’s nobody here, | |
| And laid my cheek close to his face: | |
| But as he grew bolder and bolder, | |
| A shepherd came by us and saw, | |
| And just as our bliss | 25 |
| We began with a Kiss; | |
| He burst out with A Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha. | | | | |
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