I. GOOD faith! I never was but once so mad To dote upon an idle woman's face, And then, alas! my fortune was so bad To see another chosen in my place; And yet I courted her, I'm very sure, With love as true as his was, and as pure. II. But if I ever be so fond again To undertake the second part of love, To reassume that most unmanlike pain, Or after shipwreck do the ocean prove; My mistress must be gentle, kind, and free, Or I'll be as indifferent as she. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...SONNET TO GEORGE SAND: 1. A RECOGNITION by ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING THE PILLAR OF THE CLOUD by JOHN HENRY NEWMAN OPEN THY HEART by JOHANNA AMBROSIUS THE MAD SCULPTOR by WILLIAM ROSE BENET THE WIFE'S SONG by ERNEST BENSHIMOL MY SON'S SON TO HIS SON'S SON - PERHAPS by MABEL RUTHERFORD BRIDGES |