Love

The third song, being an answer to O no, I tell thee no

by Sir Aston Cokain 1608–1684

From A Chain of Golden Poems (1658)

Love

Away I say, away,
I no longer can delay,
And my heart forbids me stay:
It swears by thy squint eyes,
That could never entice
Foul Porters or Footboyes;
By thy Ruby nose, and lips lilly white,
And thy teeth with yellow dight,
Nere to come, nere to come again in thy sight.

It swears by thy dry'd skin
Thy bosome within,
And thy paps lank, and thin;
And by thy durty golls,
That be to carry coles,
And rake dust out of holes;
By thy beastly form, and thy foul gouty feet,
That can scarce cross a street,
Nere again, nere again thee any where to meet.

By my hatred it swears,
Thy crook-back, and lave-ears,
Thy threescore and odde years,
By thy breath that is
So strong, that (with a kiss)
It would kill a Cockatrice.
By my last farwell, this kicke on thy breech,
And thy old salt Itch,
Nere to see, nere to see thee again thou witch.

MLA

Cokain, Aston. “The third song, being an answer to O no, I tell thee no.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/cokain/306/.

Chicago

Cokain, Aston. “The third song, being an answer to O no, I tell thee no.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/cokain/306/.

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