 | Beasts at law, or zoologian jurisprudence |  |
Vices, in these old-fashioned times,
With vulgar brutes, were counted crimes;
And chastity was understood
As something laudable and good.
The males (our legend further says)
Were not such rakes as now-a-days:
The dog, for instance, ne'er went round
To kiss each wanton slut he found,
But to one mate each beast was stinted,
And was, 'tis said, with one contented.
With vulgar brutes, were counted crimes;
And chastity was understood
As something laudable and good.
The males (our legend further says)
Were not such rakes as now-a-days:
Through the whole of this Poem, Sampfilius seems to have been aware that he was not writing for the times in which he lived; but, with an eye to futurity, has taken particular care to suit his language to ours. Thus, a kiss, of which there is so much fuss made in this trial, conveys to our imagination (as the author intended) the mere joining of lips; but the beasts of his day had a very different mode of doing it, and one peculiar to themselves; but which was, nevertheless, for all the world, a bona fide KISS, and nothing less or more.
The dog, for instance, ne'er went round
To kiss each wanton slut he found,
But to one mate each beast was stinted,
And was, 'tis said, with one contented.
| Beasts at law, or zoologian jurisprudence | |