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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

CLOE TO ARTIMESA by ANONYMOUS

First Line: WHILE VULGAR SOULS THEIR VULGAR LOVE PURSUE
Last Line: "WE'LL SCORN THE MONSTER AND HIS MISTRESS TO, / AND SHOW THE WORLD WHAT WOMEN OUGHT TO DO"
Subject(s): WOMEN;
WHILE vulgar souls their vulgar love pursue,
And in the common way themselves undo;
Impairing health and fame, and risking life,
To be a mistress or, what's worse, a wife:
We, whom a nicer taste has raised above
The dangerous follies of such slavish love,
Despise the sex, and in our selves we find
Pleasures for their gross senses too refined.
Let brutish men, made by our weakness vain,
Boast of the easy conquest they obtain;
Let the poor loving wretch do all she can,
And @3all@1 won't please th' ungrateful tyrant, Man;
We'll scorn the monster and his mistress too,
And show the world what women ought to do.



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