So men are by themselves betray'd, And run their necks into a noose, They'd break 'em after to break loose. To gain th' advantage of the set, And lurch the amorous rook and cheat. For as a Pythagorean foul Runs thro' all beasts, and fish, and fowl, . So love does, and has ever done; 635 0640 645 650 And therefore, tho' 'tis ne'er fo fond, Whose hot fit takes the patient first, Like glafs, that's but the ice of fire; Becomes as hard and frail a lover: For when he's with love-powder laden, And prim'd and cock'd by Mifs or Madam, Gives fire to his artillery, And off the loud oaths go, but, while They're in the very act, recoil: Hence 'tis fo few dare take their chance Without a fep'rate maintenance; 655 660 665 And widows, who have try'd one lover, Trust none again 'till they 've made over; 670 Or if they do, before they marry, The foxes weigh the geese they carry; And ere they venture o'er a stream, Know how to fize themselves, and them. Whence wittiest ladies always choose For now the world is grown so wary, But rather truft on tick t' amours, The cross and pile for better or worse; A mode that is held honourable, 675 680 For when it falls out for the best, Where both are incommoded least, In foul and body two unite, To make up one hermaphrodite, 685 I Still amorous, and fond, and billing, More petulant extravagances, Than poets make 'em in romances; Of clap and grincam of the mind, As other flames and aches prove: 690 695 700 But all the mischief is, the doubt On whose account they first broke out; For tho' Chineses go to bed, And lie-in in their ladies ftead, And, for the pains they took before, Are nurs'd and pamper'd to do more ; Our green-men do it worse, when th' hap Both lay the child to one another, But who's the father, who the mother, Or who imported the French goods. 705 710 715 720 |