T. R. Smith, comp. Poetica Erotica: Rare and Curious Amatory Verse. 1921–22.
Love for Enjoying
By James Shirley (1596–1666)(From Poems, etc., 1646) FAIR lady, what’s your face to me? | |
| I was not only made to see; | |
| Every silent stander-by | |
| May thus enjoy so much as I. | |
| That blooming nature on your cheek, | 5 |
| Is still inviting me to seek | |
| For unknown wealth; within the ground | |
| Are all the royal metals found. | |
| Leave me to search; I have a thread | |
| Through all the labyrinth shall lead, | 10 |
| And through every winding vein | |
| Conduct me to the golden mine; | |
| Which once enjoy’d, will give me power | |
| To make new Indies every hour. | |
| Look on those jewels that abound | 15 |
| Upon your dress; that diamond | |
| No flame, no lustre could impart, | |
| Should not the lapidary’s art | |
| Contribute here and there a star; | |
| And just such things ye women are, | 20 |
| Who do not in rude quarries shine, | |
| But meeting us, you’re made divine. | |
| Come let us mix ourselves, and prove | |
| That action is the soul of love. | |
| Why do we coward-gazing stand, | 25 |
| Like armies in the Netherland: | |
| Contracting fear at either’s sight, | |
| Till we both grow too weak to fight? | |
| Let’s charge for shame, and choose you whether | |
| One shall fall, or both together. | 30 |
| This is love’s war, whoever dies, | |
| If the survivor be but wise, | |
| He may reduce the spirit fled, | |
| For t’other kiss will cure the dead. | |