Sir Charles Sedley (1639–1701)

PHILLIS is my only joy,

Faithless as the winds or seas,

Sometimes coming, sometimes coy,

Yet she never fails to please;

If with a frown

I am cast down,

Phillis smiling

And beguiling

Makes me happier than before.

Though alas! too late I find

Nothing can her fancy fix,

Yet the moment she is kind

I forgive her all her tricks;

Which though I see,

I can’t get free.

She deceiving,

I believing,

What need lovers wish for more?