Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, TO A LADY MORE CRUEL THAN FAIR, by JOHN VANBRUGH


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

TO A LADY MORE CRUEL THAN FAIR, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Why d'ye with such disdain refuse
Last Line: As I had cause to love.
Subject(s): Love - Unrequited


Why d'ye with such disdain refuse
An humble lover's plea?
Since Heaven denies you power to chuse,
You ought to value me.
Ungrateful mistress of a heart,
Which I so freely gave,
Though weak your bow, though blunt your dart,
I soon resign'd, your slave.
Nor was I weary of your reign,
Till you a tyrant grew,
And seem'd regardless of my pain,
As nature seem'd of you.
When thousands with unerring eyes
Your beauty would decry,
What graces did my love devise,
To give their truths the lie!
To every grove I told your charms,
In you my heaven I placed,
Proposing pleasures in your arms,
Which none but I could taste.
("Jack, you certainly are an impudent dog!")
For me t' admire, at such a rate,
So damn'd a face (!) will rpove
You have as little cause to hate,
As I had cause to love.




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