Love

My love hath vowed he will forsake me

by Thomas Campion 1567–1620

From A Book of Airs (1601)

Love

My love hath vowed he will forsake me,
And I am already sped;
Far other promise he did make me
When he had my maidenhead.
If such danger be in playing
And sport must to earnest turn,
I will go no more a-maying.

Had I foreseen what is ensued,
And what now with pain I prove,
Unhappy then I had eschewed
This unkind event of love:
Maids foreknow their own undoing,
But fear naught till all is done,
When a man alone is wooing.

Dissembling wretch, to gain thy pleasure,
What didst thou not vow and swear?
So didst thou rob me of the treasure
Which so long I held so dear.
Now thou provest to me a stranger:
Such is the vile guise of men
When a woman is in danger.

That heart is nearest to misfortune
That will trust a feigned tongue;
When flatt'ring men our loves importune
They intend us deepest wrong.
If this shame of love's betraying
But this once I cleanly shun,
I will go no more a-maying.

✦ ✦ ✦

A Book of Airs (1601)

MLA

Campion, Thomas. “My love hath vowed he will forsake me.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/campion/12/.

Chicago

Campion, Thomas. “My love hath vowed he will forsake me.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/campion/12/.

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