Love

Catullus Epigr. VII. Imitated

by John Oldham 1653–1683

From Poems, and Translations (1683)

Love

Nay, Lesbia, never ask me this,
How many Kisses will suffice?
Faith, 'tis a question hard to tell,
Exceeding hard; for you as well
May ask what sums of Gold suffice
The greedy Miser's boundless Wish:
Think what drops the Ocean store,
With all the Sands, that make its Shore
Think what Spangles deck the Skies,
When Heaven looks with all its Eyes:
Or think how many Atoms came
To compose this mighty Frame:
Let all these the Counters be,
To tell how oft I'm kiss'd by thee:
Till no malicious Spy can guess
To what vast height the Scores arise;
Till weak Arithmetick grow scant,
And numbers for the reck'ning want:
All these will hardly be enough
For me stark staring mad with Love.

MLA

Oldham, John. “Catullus Epigr. VII. Imitated.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/oldham/7/.

Chicago

Oldham, John. “Catullus Epigr. VII. Imitated.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/oldham/7/.

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