T. R. Smith, comp. Poetica Erotica: Rare and Curious Amatory Verse. 1921–22.
When I Court Thee
Anonymous(From The Cupid, 1736) WHEN I court thee, dear Molly, to grant me the bliss, | |
| With a squeeze by the hand, and then with a kiss; | |
| You, like an arch baggage, for ever reply, | |
| In the same loving mood, can you live, Sir, and die? | |
| Then you ask me, how long this same passion will last, | 5 |
| And if I shan’t cool when the moment is past? | |
| Such questions as these might e’en damp a beginner, | |
| And must certainly puzzle an old battered sinner. | |
| But to shew you, for once, how much I despise | |
| To tell you, like some men, a thousand damned lies, | 10 |
| My mind, dearest girl, in few Words you shall know, | |
| And if, on these Terms, you think well of it, so; | |
| If not, for my part, I shall ne’er take it ill, | |
| For if one woman won’t, there are thousands that will. | |
| That I like you at present, you never can doubt; | 15 |
| For what do I take all this trouble about? | |
| That my passion is real, and void of disguise, | |
| You may feel my pulse; you may read in my eyes: | |
| When these roll so fast, and that beats so quick, | |
| The deuce must be in’t, if it’s all but a trick. | 20 |
| Thy fresh ruddy lips, and thy teeth all so white, | |
| Thy round tempting bubbles, which heave with delight, | |
| Thy trim taper shape, and thy dear little feet, | |
| Thy voice that’s so soft, and thy breath that’s so sweet; | |
| Thy bright beaming eyes, and thy gay golden hair, | 25 |
| Provoke a sensation too killing to bear; | |
| Above or below nothing faulty is seen; | |
| And, faith, I dare answer for what lies between. | |
| So many rare charms surely never can cloy, | |
| But Night, after Night, wou’d afford one new joy; | 30 |
| Methinks, in my passion, I never cou’d vary, | |
| If a thousand examples didn’t prove the contrary: | |
| For, like other men, I am but flesh and blood; | |
| Yet, if I’m no better, I hope I’m as good; | |
| Then since, dearest Molly, any one whom you take, | 35 |
| Is as likely as me, to prove false and forsake, | |
| If you e’er run the hazard, let me be your man, | |
| And I’ll love you as much, and as long as I can. | |
| We’ll toy, ramp, and revel, we’ll bill, and we’ll coo, | |
| And do everything else, which young lovers do. | 40 |
| But if, upon trial, and often repenting, | |
| (For the proof of the pudding’s, you know, in the eating) | |
| Your passion or mine from the bias should run, | |
| As in crowds of each sex it already has done; | |
| Shou’d we grow cool and civil, why e’en let us part, | 45 |
| Nor strive to keep up a dull passion by art; | |
| For ’tis folly, ’tis nonsense, our nature to force, | |
| As spurring a jade only makes her the worse: | |
| At formal restraint let us neither repine, | |
| But give back my Heart, and I’ll return thine. | 50 |