| T. R. Smith, comp. Poetica Erotica: Rare and Curious Amatory Verse. 1921–22. | | | | A Song from “The Distresses” | | By Sir William Davenant (1606–1668) |
| | (1639)
NONE but myself my heart did keep, | |
| When I on cowslips bed did sleep | |
| Near to a pleasant bog: | |
| Whilst you, my pretty rogue, | |
| With knuckle knocking at my breast, | 5 |
| Did ask for my three-corner’d guest. | |
| And whispering soft, as soft as voice could be, | |
| Didst say come out thou little heart to me! | |
| |
| A thousand fiends as black as soot, | |
| With all their dirty dams to boot, | 10 |
| Take thee, O take thee every day | |
| For tempting my poor heart away. | |
| |
| This heart for joy, from me did leap, | |
| And followed thee even step by step, | |
| Till tired it asked to rest | 15 |
| A while within thy breast. | |
| ’Twas thick and fat, and plump before, | |
| Weighing a full pound and more, | |
| But now alas, ’tis wasted to the skin, | |
| And grows no bigger than the head of pin. | 20 |
| |
| A thousand fiends as black as soot, | |
| With all their dirty dams to boot, | |
| Take thee, O take thee every day | |
| For tempting my poor heart away. | | | | |
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