| T. R. Smith, comp. Poetica Erotica: Rare and Curious Amatory Verse. 1921–22. | | | | “Whilst Alexis Lay Prest” | | By John Dryden (1631–1700) |
| | (From Marriage-à-la-mode, 1673)
WHILST Alexis lay prest | |
| In her Arms he lov’d best, | |
| With his hands round her neck, | |
| And his head on her breast, | |
| He found the fierce pleasure too hasty to stay, | 5 |
| And his soul in the tempest just flying away. | |
| |
| When Celia saw this, | |
| With a sigh, and a kiss, | |
| She cry’d, Oh my dear, I am robb’d of my bliss; | |
| ’Tis unkind to your Love, and unfaithfully done, | 10 |
| To leave me behind you, and die all alone. | |
| |
| The Youth, though in haste, | |
| And breathing his last, | |
| In pity died slowly, while she died more fast; | |
| Till at length she cry’d, Now, my dear, let us go, | 15 |
| Now die, my Alexis, and I will die too. | |
| |
| Thus intranc’d they did lie, | |
| Till Alexis did try | |
| To recover new breath, that again he might die: | |
| Then often they died; but the more they did so, | 20 |
| The Nymph died more quick, and the Shepherd more slow. | | | | |
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