THE

LADY'S ANSWER

TO THE

KNIGHT.

THAT you 're a beast and turn'd to grass,
Is no strange news, nor ever was;
At least to me, who once, you know,
Did from the pound replevin you,*

When both your sword and spurs were won
In combat, by an Amazon;

That sword that did, like fate, determine
Th' inevitable death of vermin,

And never dealt its furious blows,

But cut the throats of pigs and cows,
By Trulla was, in single fight,

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Disarm'd and wrested from its Knight,
Your heels degraded of your spurs,
And in the stocks close prisoners:

Where still they 'd lain, in base restraint,

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If I, in pity of your complaint,

Had not, on hon'rable conditions,

Releast 'em from the worse of prisons;

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And what return that favour met,
You cannot, tho' you wou'd, forget;
When being free, you strove t' evade,
The oaths you had in prison made;
Forswore yourself, and first deny'd it,
But after own'd, and justify'd it:
And when y' had falsely broke one vow,
Absolv'd yourself, by breaking two.
For while you sneakingly submit,
And beg for pardon at our feet ;t

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* A replevin is a re-deliverance of the thing distrained, to remain with the first possessor on security.

†The widow, to keep up her dignity, and importance, speaks of herself in the plural number.

Discourag'd by your guilty fears,
To hope for quarter, for your ears;
And doubting 'twas in vain to sue,
You claim us boldly as your due,
Declare that treachery and force,
To deal with us, is th' only course;
We have no title nor pretence
To body, soul, or conscience,
But ought to fall to that man's share
That claims us for his proper ware:
These are the motives which, t' induce,
Or fright us into love, you use;
A pretty new way of gallanting,
Between soliciting and ranting;
Like sturdy beggars, that intreat
For charity at once, and threat.
But since you undertake to prove
Your own propriety in love,
As if we were but lawful prize
In war, between two enemies,
Or forfeitures which ev'ry lover,
That would but sue for, might recover,
It is not hard to understand

The myst'ry of this bold demand,
That cannot at our persons aim,

But something capable of claim.*

"Tis not those paltry counterfeit,

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French stones, which in our eyes you set,
But our right diamonds, that inspire
And set your am'rous hearts on fire;
Nor can those false St. Martin's beadst

Which on our lips you lay for reds,

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And make us wear like Indian dames,t
Add fuel to your scorching flames,

But those two rubies of the rock
Which in our cabinets we lock.

"Tis not those orient pearls, our teeth,§

* Their property.

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†That is, artificial jewels. How they came to be called Saint Martin's beads I know not; unless from St. Martino near mount Vesuvius, where the ejected lava is collected and applied to this purpose. Mr. Montague Bacon says, that at Rochelle, not far from St. Martin's, there is a sort of red stones called St. Martin's beads.

Female savages in many parts of the globe wear ornaments of fish bone, or glass when they can get it, on their lips and

noses.

In the History of Don Fenise, a romance translated from the

That you are so transported with,
But those we wear about our necks,
Produce those amorous effects.

Nor is 't those threads of gold, our hair,
The periwigs you make us wear;
But those bright guineas in our chests,
That light the wildfire in your breasts.
These love-tricks I've been vers'd in so,
That all their sly intrigues I know,
And can unriddle, by their tones,
Their mystic cabals, and jargones;
Can tell what passions, by their sounds,
Pine for the beauties of my grounds;
What raptures fond and amorous,

O' th' charms and graces of my house;
What extasy and scorching flame,
Burns for my money in my name;
What from th' unnatural desire,
To beasts and cattle, takes its fire;
What tender sigh, and trickling tear,
Longs for a thousand pounds a year;
And languishing transports are fond
Of statute, mortgage, bill, and bond.*

These are th' attracts which most men fall Enamour'd, at first sight, withal:

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To these th' address with serenades,
And court with balls and masquerades ;
And yet, for all the yearning pain

Ye've suffer'd for their loves in vain,
I fear they'll prove so nice and coy,
To have, and t' hold, and to enjoy ;

00

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Spanish of Francisco de las Coveras, and printed 1656, mentioned by Dr. Grey, p. 269, is the following passage: "My covetous"ness exceeding my love, counselled me that it was better to "have gold money than in threads of hair; and to possess pearls "that resemble teeth, than teeth that were like pearls."

In praising Chloris, moons, and stars, and skies,
Are quickly made to match her face and eyes;
And gold and rubies, with as little care,

To fit the colour of her lips and hair:

And mixing suns, and flow'rs, and pearl, and stones,
Make them serve all complections at once:

With these fine fancies at hap-hazard writ,

I could make verses without art or wit.

Butler's Remains, v. i. p. 88.

* Statute is a short writing called Statute Marchant, or Statute Staple, in the nature of a bond, &c., made according to the form expressly provided in certain statutes, 5th Hen. iv. c. 12, and others.

That all your oaths and labour lost,
They'll ne'er turn ladies of the post.*
This is not meant to disapprove

Your judgment, in your choice of love,
Which is so wise, the greatest part
Of mankind study 't as an art;

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For love shou'd, like a deodand,

Still fall to th' owner of the land ;†

And where there's substance for its ground,

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Cannot but be more firm and sound,‡

Than that which has the slighter basis
Of airy virtue, wit, and graces;
Which is of such thin subtlety,
It steals and creeps in at the eye,
And, as it can't endure to stay,
Steals out again, as nice a way.§

But love, that its extraction owns
From solid gold and precious stones,
Must, like its shining parents, prove
As solid, and as glorious love.

Hence 'tis you have no way t' express
Our charms and graces but by these;
For what are lips, and eyes, and teeth,||
Which beauty invades and conquers with,
But rubies, pearls, and diamonds,
With which, a philter love commands?¶
This is the way all parents prove,

In managing their children's love;

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* That is, will never swear for you, or vow to take you for a husband.

Any moving thing which occasions the death of a man is forfeited to the lord of the manor. It was originally intended that he should dispose of it in acts of charity; hence the name deodand. Or it is a thing given, or rather forfeited to God, for the pacification of his wrath, in case of misadventure, whereby any Christian man cometh to a violent end, without the fault of any reasonable creature. Lewis XIV. and others born of mothers that had long been barren, were called Adeodati.

Optima sed quare Cesennia teste marito?

Bis quingenta dedit, tanti vocat ille pudicam;
Nec Veneris pharetris macer est; aut lampade fervet:
Inde faces ardent, veniunt a dote sagittæ.

Juvenal. vi. 135.

Farquhar has this thought in his dialogue between Archer and Cherry. See the Beaux Stratagem.

။

τίνι δεδούλωταί ποτε ;
Οψει ; φλυαρία.

-Menand. Fragm.

T Suppose we read, as in some editions,

With which as philters love commands.

That force 'em t' intermarry and wed,
As if th' were burying of the dead;
Cast earth to earth, as in the grave,
To join in wedlock all they have,
And, when the settlement's in force,
Take all the rest for better or worse;
For money has a pow'r above
The stars, and fate, to manage love,*
Whose arrows, learned poets hold,
That never miss, are tipp'd with gold.t
And tho' some say, the parents' claims
To make love in their children's names,t
Who, many times, at once provide

The nurse,

the husband, and the bride,

Feel darts and charms, attracts and flames, and contract, in their names,

And woo,

And as they christen, use to marry 'em ;

And, like their gossips, answer for 'em ;
Is not to give in matrimony,
But sell and prostitute for money.
"Tis better than their own betrothing,
Who often do 't for worse than nothing;
And when they 're at their own dispose,
With greater disadvantage choose.
All this is right; but, for the course
You take to do 't, by fraud or force,
"Tis so ridiculous, as soon

As told, 'tis never to be done,§

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130

135

140

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150

Et genus et formam regina Pecunia donat,
Ac bene nummatum decorat Suadela Venusque.
Hor. Epist. lib. i. vi. 37.

Ἐγὼ δ' ὑπέλαβον χρησίμους εναι θεοὺς
Τ ̓ ἀργύριον ἡμῖν καὶ τὸ χρυσίον μόνον.

Menand. Frag.

In Ovid's Metamorphoses, i. 468, Cupid employs two ar rows, one of gold. and the other of lead: the former causing love, the latter av, rsion.

Eque sagittifera prompsit duo tela pharetra

Diversorum operum: fugat hoc, facit illud amorem.
Quod facit auratum est, et cuspide fulget acuta:

Quod fugat obtusum est, et habet sub arundine plumbuin.

Though it is thus printed in all the copies I have seen, yet claim and name should seem a better reading, to avoid false concord for claim is the nominative case to Is in verse 143.

see P. i. c. ii. 1. 676:

Shall dictum factum both be brought

To condign punishment.