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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


INCONSTANCY by THOMAS MOORE

First Line: AND DO I THEN WONDER THAT JULIA DECEIVES ME
Last Line: IF HE LIVE BUT A DAY, HE'LL BE SURELY BETRAY'D.

AND do I then wonder that Julia deceives me,
When surely there's nothing in nature more common?
She vows to be true, and while vowing she leaves me --
But could I expect any more from a woman?

O woman! your heart is a pitiful treasure;
And Mahomet's doctrine was not too severe,
When he thought you were only materials of pleasure,
And reason and thinking were out of your sphere.

By your heart, when the fond sighing lover can win it,
He thinks that an age of anxiety 's paid;
But, oh! while he's blest, let him die on the minute --
If he live but a @3day@1, he'll be surely betray'd.



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