Love

O, the Devil Take You All!

by William Rowley c. 1585–1626

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

Love

Foolish, idle toys,
That nature gave unto us,
But to curb our joys,
And only to undo us;
For since Lucretia's fall,
There are none chaste at all;
Or if perchance there be
One in an empery,
Some other malady
Makes her far worse than she.
Out upon ye all!

'Twere too much to tell
The follies that attend ye;
He must love you well
That can but discommend ye;
For your deserts are such,
Man cannot rail too much;
Nor is the world so blind,
But it may easily find
The body, or [the] mind,
Tainted in womankind.

O, the devil take you all!

MLA

Rowley, William. “O, the Devil Take You All!” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/rowley/9/.

Chicago

Rowley, William. “O, the Devil Take You All!” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/rowley/9/.

Read this poem with the Codex →

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