Let not thy impotent lust so powerful be Over thy reason, soul, and liberty, As to enforce thee to a married life, Ere thou art able to maintain a wife. Thou canst not feed upon her lips and face, She cannot clothe thee with a poor embrace. Myself being yet alone, and but one still, With patience could endure the worst of ill. When fortune frowns, one to the wars may go To fight against his foes and fortunes too. But (O) the grief were treble for to see Thy wretched bride half-pin'd with poverty: To see thy infants make their dumb complaint, And thou not able to relieve their want! The poorest beggar, when he's dead and gone, Is rich as he that sits upon the throne. But he that, having no estate, is wed, Starves in his grave, being wretched when he's dead. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...AN AMERICAN IN BANGKOK by KAREN SWENSON BERTHA IN THE LANE by ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING UP IN THE MORNING EARLY by ROBERT BURNS JACK CREAMER [OCTOBER 25, 1812] by JAMES JEFFREY ROCHE BEHIND TIME by ALEXANDER ANDERSON |