The poetical works of Sir John Denham Edited with notes and introduction by Theodore Howard Banks |
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OUT OF AN EPIGRAM OF MARTIAL
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 | The poetical works of Sir John Denham |  |
OUT OF AN EPIGRAM OF MARTIAL
Prithee die and set me free,
Or else be
Kind and brisk, and gay like me;
I pretend not to the wise ones,
To the grave, to the grave,
Or the precise ones.
Or else be
Kind and brisk, and gay like me;
I pretend not to the wise ones,
To the grave, to the grave,
Or the precise ones.
'Tis not Cheeks, nor Lips nor Eyes,
That I prize,
Quick Conceits, or sharp Replies,
If wise thou wilt appear, and knowing,
Repartie, Repartie
To what I'm doing.
That I prize,
Quick Conceits, or sharp Replies,
If wise thou wilt appear, and knowing,
Repartie, Repartie
To what I'm doing.
Prithee why the Room so dark?
Not a Spark
Left to light me to the mark;
I love day-light and a candle,
And to see, and to see,
As well as handle.
Not a Spark
Left to light me to the mark;
I love day-light and a candle,
And to see, and to see,
As well as handle.
181
Why so many Bolts and Locks,
Coats and Smocks,
And those Drawers with a Pox?
I could wish, could Nature make it,
Nakedness, Nakedness
It self were naked.
Coats and Smocks,
And those Drawers with a Pox?
I could wish, could Nature make it,
Nakedness, Nakedness
It self were naked.
But if a Mistress I must have,
Wise and grave,
Let her so her self behave
All the day long Susan Civil,
Pap by night, pap by night
Or such a Divel.
Wise and grave,
Let her so her self behave
All the day long Susan Civil,
Pap by night, pap by night
Or such a Divel.
| The poetical works of Sir John Denham | |