Love

A Woman Will Have Her Will

by John Fletcher 1576–1625

From Lyrics from the Dramatists of the Elizabethan Age, ed. A. H. Bullen (London: Nimmo, 1889)

Love

Question. Tell me, what is that only thing
For which all women long;
Yet, having what they most desire,
To have it does them wrong?

Answer. 'Tis not to be chaste, nor fair,
(Such gifts malice may impair,)
Richly trimmed, to walk or ride,
Or to wanton unespied;
To preserve an honest name,
And so to give it up to fame;
These are toys. In good or ill
They desire to have their will:
Yet, when they have it, they abuse it,
For they know not how to use it.

MLA

Fletcher, John. “A Woman Will Have Her Will.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/fletcher_j/31/.

Chicago

Fletcher, John. “A Woman Will Have Her Will.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/fletcher_j/31/.

Read this poem with the Codex →

More by John Fletcher