"Nature when first she form'd our Minds took care, / To place the softest, tenderest Passions there. / Hence 'tis, our Thoughts like Tinder, apt to fire, / Are often caught with loving kind Desire."
— Ames, Richard (bap. 1664?, d. 1692)
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed by Richard Baldwin
Date
1692
Metaphor
"Nature when first she form'd our Minds took care, / To place the softest, tenderest Passions there. / Hence 'tis, our Thoughts like Tinder, apt to fire, / Are often caught with loving kind Desire."
Metaphor in Context
More Mis'ries still our wretched Sex endure,
And Mis'ries which can ne're admit of cure;
Nature when first she form'd our Minds took care,
To place the softest, tenderest Passions there.
Hence 'tis, our Thoughts like Tinder, apt to fire,
Are often caught with loving kind Desire;
But Custom does such rigid Laws impose,
We must not for our Lives the thing disclose.
If one of us a lovely Youth has seen,
And streight some tender Thoughts to feel begin;
Which liking does insensibly improve
It self to longing fond impatient Love.
The Damsel in distress must still remain,
Tortur'd and wrack'd with the tormenting Pain:
Custom and Modesty, much more severe,
Strictly forbid our Passion to declare.
If we reveal, then Decency's provok't,
If kept, then we are with the Secret choakt;
Besides, to Baseness Men are so ally'd,
So lifted up with Vanity and Pride,
That should a Maid with Sighs and Blushes tell,
The restless Love she does for Strephon feel;
Her sad Distress he would regard no more,
Than Rich Men do Petitions from the Poor:
Whilst wretched She in vain for Pity sues,
He leaves her to frequent the Publick Stews;
So slights the Vertue which he should adore,
To kneel at Feet of Mercenary Whore.
(pp. 11-2, ll. 264-291)
And Mis'ries which can ne're admit of cure;
Nature when first she form'd our Minds took care,
To place the softest, tenderest Passions there.
Hence 'tis, our Thoughts like Tinder, apt to fire,
Are often caught with loving kind Desire;
But Custom does such rigid Laws impose,
We must not for our Lives the thing disclose.
If one of us a lovely Youth has seen,
And streight some tender Thoughts to feel begin;
Which liking does insensibly improve
It self to longing fond impatient Love.
The Damsel in distress must still remain,
Tortur'd and wrack'd with the tormenting Pain:
Custom and Modesty, much more severe,
Strictly forbid our Passion to declare.
If we reveal, then Decency's provok't,
If kept, then we are with the Secret choakt;
Besides, to Baseness Men are so ally'd,
So lifted up with Vanity and Pride,
That should a Maid with Sighs and Blushes tell,
The restless Love she does for Strephon feel;
Her sad Distress he would regard no more,
Than Rich Men do Petitions from the Poor:
Whilst wretched She in vain for Pity sues,
He leaves her to frequent the Publick Stews;
So slights the Vertue which he should adore,
To kneel at Feet of Mercenary Whore.
(pp. 11-2, ll. 264-291)
Categories
Provenance
Searching "mind" in C-H Lion
Citation
Three entries in ESTC (1692, 1697, 1698).
Richard Ames, Sylvia's Complaint, of her Sexes Unhappiness. A Poem. Being the Second Part of Sylvia's Revenge, or, a Satyr against Man (London: Printed by Richard Baldwin, 1692). <Link to EEBO>
Richard Ames, Sylvia's Complaint, of her Sexes Unhappiness. A Poem. Being the Second Part of Sylvia's Revenge, or, a Satyr against Man (London: Printed by Richard Baldwin, 1692). <Link to EEBO>
Date of Entry
07/24/2013
