T. R. Smith, comp. Poetica Erotica: Rare and Curious Amatory Verse. 1921–22.
An Epilogue
By John Gay (1685–1732)(From The Wife of Bath, 1713) THE TOIL of Wedlock five times bravely past, | |
| You’ll say ’twas cruel to be baulk’d at last. | |
| Grown old in Cupid’s camp—long versed in arms, | |
| I from my youth have known the power of charms: | |
| Was I to single combat ever slow? | 5 |
| Did I e’er turn my back upon the foe? | |
| Is this the way old service is regarded, | |
| And must the joyless widow be discarded? | |
| Stint me not, Love—but while I yet survive, | |
| Throw in another comfort to the five. | 10 |
| Bless me! when I reflect on former days! | |
| Youth can make conquest sev’ral thousand ways; | |
| I danced; I sang; I smiled—I looked demure, | |
| And caught each lover with a diff’rent lure: | |
| In frequent wedlock joined, was woman still, | 15 |
| And bowed subservient husbands to my will. | |
| If reason governs man’s superior mind, | |
| A ready cunning prompts the female kind. | |
| Then learn from me—so, Hymen, bless your lives, | |
| Preserve the just prerogative of wives; | 20 |
| Know to command each look, each tear, each smile, | |
| With eyes, and face, and tongue, and heart beguile: | |
| Ev’n he that loves in search of game to roam, | |
| By feigned reprisals may be kept at home. | |
| Whenever Heav’n was pleased to take my spouse, | 25 |
| I never pined for thought of former vows; | |
| ’Tis true, I sighed, I wept, I sobbed at first, | |
| And tore my hair—as decent widows—must; | |
| But soon another husband dried mine eyes: | |
| My life, my dear!—supplied the place of sighs: | 30 |
| Amidst continual love I’ve relished life, | |
| A forward maid and a triumphant wife: | |
| Then grant, O Cupid, this my latest prayer, | |
| If no kind husband will relieve my care; | |
| Since inclination yet outlives my face, | 35 |
| At least indulge me with a coup de grâce. | |