Be the Mistresse of my choice, Cleane in manners, cleere in voice: Be she witty, more then wise; Pure enough, though not Precise: Be she shewing in her dresse, Like a civill Wilderness; That the curious may detect Order in a sweet neglect: Be she rowling in her eye, Tempting all the passers by: And each Ringlet of her haire, An Enchantment, or a Snare, For to catch the Lookers on; But her self held fast by none. Let her Lucrece all day be, Thais in the night, to me. Be she such, as neither will Famish me, nor over-fill. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE REALM OF FANCY by JOHN KEATS A WOMAN'S ANSWER by ADELAIDE ANNE PROCTER FAUSTINE by ALGERNON CHARLES SWINBURNE TO THE PENDING YEAR by WALT WHITMAN THE PRETENCE by JOSEPH BEAUMONT THE CURFEW TOWER by ROBERT SEYMOUR BRIDGES |