January 8, 2009
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Against Demur in Marriage
Here's a little poem from the 17th century.
Against the Demur in Marriage
Prithee friend leave off thy fooling,
And at last resolve to do
What Loves pleasures never cooling,
Love and beauty prompt thee to.
Venus cares not for good-will,
But would have thee doing still.
Do but view that maid of mettle,
How the rose smiles on her cheek;
The flower’s defended by the nettle,
And the rose deserves a prick.
Crop it then before it wither:
Youth and Love decay together.
Call thy spirits up, and make her
Great as ever she can hold:
Leave her quite, or quickly take her;
Be thou either hot or cold.
Love and Religion both agree,
Luke-warm’s as bad as he or she.
Delays in drinking spoil good Claret;
Demurs make sick the maidenhead:
Sipping either doth but mar it;
Neither pleaseth, if once dead.
Take her then; no longer dally:
Worse then death is shally, shally.
Courage, man, to it; touch and take her:
Maids by hopes are oft beguiled:
Dallying, big will hardly make her;
Kisses never got a child.
Take her then and leave thy wooing:
Meaning’s not so good as doing.They weren't that blunt back in the 17 century but the basic gist of this poem is, "Dude, your wife needs some loving so get down to business."
"The rose deserves a prick." What on earth could that mean?
I have another guest blogger lined up. I just don't know when he will have time to write for me.
Comments (7)
I feel upper crust and dirty at the same time, how novel!
@jacksoncroons -
That is why I love old poetry. You get to feel all uppity because it's in some fancy talk and then dirty because all that stuff has to deal with sex.
My friend read a poem over the holidays about missletoe... and "plucking the berries" was used so often in terms of "maidens" that we all just figured... to pluck one's berry means to have sex.
@theladyofabundance -
It's amazing sitting back and reading some of that old poetry. It is so dirty. I think I could have used this in high school and none of the kids would have gotten it.
@godfatherofgreenbay - This is why I kind of laugh at the people who talk about how "dirty" today's music is compared to the "good old days" (sorry if you're one of those people). I don't think today's songs are dirtier, they're just direct to the point! *LOL*
@ithiliya -
I used to think that then I started getting into the writings from way back. There is just so much to take in. Even those songs from the 50s have such hidden innuendo. I remember my grandma listening to Bill Haley and the Comets best known for Rock Around the Clock. Well one of their songs had a refrain that went something like, "I'm a one eyed cat strutting in the tuna store." Honestly, I don't think there were ever any good old days.
@godfatherofgreenbay - *LOL* Oh, that is CLASSIC! Literally and figuratively!
I agree... I think people just don't like getting old, so they reminisce about when they were young and confuse their own youth with the times they were growing up in. It wasn't the "good old days" because things were particular good... it was the "good old days" because you got laid a lot! *LOL*
"I'm a one-eyed cat strutting in the tuna store"... oh, my God, I needed that laugh!
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