Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, SONG, by APHRA BEHN


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

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First Line: A thousand martyrs I have made
Last Line: Despise the fools that whine for love.
Alternate Author Name(s): Astraea; Behn, Afara; Behn, Apharra; Amis, Ayfara
Variant Title(s): The Libertine
Subject(s): Love


A THOUSAND martyrs I have made,
All sacrificed to my desire,
A thousand beauties have betray'd
That languish in resistless fire:
The untamed heart to hand I brought,
And fix'd the wild and wand'ring thought.

I never vow'd nor sigh'd in vain,
But both, tho' false, were well received;
The fair are pleased to give us pain,
And what they wish is soon believed:
And tho' I talk'd of wounds and smart,
Love's pleasures only touch'd my heart.

Alone the glory and the spoil
I always laughing bore away;
The triumphs without pain or toil,
Without the hell the heaven of joy;
And while I thus at random rove
Despise the fools that whine for love.





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