Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, RESOLUTION OF A POETICAL QUESTION CONCERNING FOUR RURAL SISTERS: 3, by CHARLES COTTON


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RESOLUTION OF A POETICAL QUESTION CONCERNING FOUR RURAL SISTERS: 3, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: Mary is black, and taller than the last
Last Line: Unless he offer more than she demands.
Variant Title(s): Resolution In Four Sonnets, Of A Poetical Question Put To Me By A 3
Subject(s): Courtship


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.





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