MARY is black, and taller than the last, Yet equal in perfection and desire, To the one's melting snow, and t' other's fire, As with whose black their fairness is defac'd. She pants as much for love as th' other two, But she so virtuous is, or else so wise, That she will win or will not love a prize, And upon but good terms will never do: Therefore who her will conquer ought to be At least as full of love and wit as she, Or he shall ne'er gain favour at her hands: Nay, though he have a pretty store of brains, Shall only have his labour for his pains, Unless he offer more than she demands. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...ERASMUS by EDWIN ARLINGTON ROBINSON THE INDIAN BURYING GROUND by PHILIP FRENEAU PROLOGUE, SPOKEN BY MR. GARRICK AT ... THEATRE ROYALE, 1747 by SAMUEL JOHNSON (1709-1784) THE DAY IS DONE by HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW BASE DETAILS by SIEGFRIED SASSOON RETIREMENT: AN ODE by JAMES BEATTIE THE LOVE SONNETS OF PROTEUS: 104. WRITTEN AT FLORENCE: 2 by WILFRID SCAWEN BLUNT |