| T. R. Smith, comp. Poetica Erotica: Rare and Curious Amatory Verse. 1921–22. | | | | The Forward Love | | By Sir Charles Sedley (1639–1701) |
| | (Works, 1722)
TUSH! never tell me I’m too young | |
| For loving, or too green; | |
| She stays at least seven Years too long, | |
| That’s wedded at Eighteen. | |
| Lambs bring forth Lambs, and Doves bring Doves, | 5 |
| As soon they’ve begotten: | |
| Then why should ladies linger Loves, | |
| As if not ripe till rotten? | |
| |
| Grey Hairs are fitter for the Grave | |
| Than for the bridal Bed, | 10 |
| What Pleasure can a Lover have | |
| In a withered Maidenhead? | |
| Nature’s exalted in our Time, | |
| And what our Grandames then | |
| At Four and Twenty scarce could climb, | 15 |
| We can arrive at Ten. | | | | |
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