Contents -BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD

T. R. Smith, comp. Poetica Erotica: Rare and Curious Amatory Verse. 1921–22.

As I Sat at My Spinning-Wheel

Anonymous

(A Song from Pills to Purge Melancholy, 1719)

AS I sat at my Spinning-Wheel,
A bonny Lad there passed by,
I kenned him round, and I liked him weel,
Geud Feth he had a bonny Eye:
My Heart new panting, ’gan to feel,	5
But still I turned my Spinning-Wheel.
Most gracefully he did appear,
As he my Presence did draw near,
And round about my slender waist
He clasped his Arms, and me embraced:	10
To kiss my Hand he down did kneel,
As I sat at my Spinning-Wheel.
My Milk white hand he did extol,
And praised my Fingers long and small,
And said, there was no Lady fair,	15
That ever could with me compare:
Those pleasing Words my Heart did feel,
But still I turned my Spinning-Wheel.
Altho’ I seemingly did chide,
Yet he would never be denied,	20
But did declare his Love the more,
Until my Heart was Wounded sore;
That I my Love could scarce conceal,
But yet I turned my Spinning-Wheel.
As for my Yarn, my Rock and Reel,	25
And after that my Spinning-Wheel,
He bid me leave them all with Speed
And gang with him yonder Mead:
My panting Heart strange Flames did feel,
Yet still I turned my Spinning-Wheel.	30
He stopped and gazed, and blithely said,
Now Speed the Wheel, my bonny Maid,
But if thou’st to the Hay-Cock go,
I’ll learn thee better Work I trow,
Geud Feth, I lik’d him passing weel,	35
But still I turned my Spinning-Wheel.
He lowly veiled his Bonnet oft,
And sweetly kist my Lips so soft;
Yet still between each Honey Kiss,
He urged me on to farther Bliss:	40
’Till I resistless Fire did feel,
Then let alone my Spinning-Wheel.
Among the pleasant Cocks of Hay,
Then with my bonny Lad I lay,
What Damsel ever could deny,	45
A Youth with such a Charming Eye?
The Pleasure I cannot reveal,
It far surpast the Spinning-Wheel.