A Persian emp'ror whipp'd his grannum, 845
The sea, his mother Venus came on;[1]
And hence some rev'rend men approve
Of rosemary in making love.[2]
As skilful coopers hoop their tubs
With Lydian and with Phrygian dubs,[3]850
Why may not whipping have as good
A grace, perform'd in time and mood,
With comely movement, and by art,
Raise passion in a lady's heart?
It is an easier way to make 855
Love by, than that which many take.
Who would not rather suffer whipping,
Than swallow toasts of bits of ribbon?[4]
Make wicked verses, treats, and faces.
And spell names over with beer-glasses?[5]860
Be under vows to hang and die
Love's sacrifice, and all a lie?
With China-oranges and tarts,
And whining-plays, lay baits for hearts?
Bribe chambermaids with love and money,865
To break no roguish jests upon ye;
For lilies limn'd on cheeks, and roses.
With painted perfumes, hazard noses?[6]
- ↑ Xerxes whipped the sea, which was the mother of Venus, and Venus was the mother of Cupid; the sea, therefore, was the "grannum," or grandmother, of Cupid, and the object of imperial flagellation, when the winds and the waves were not propitious. See Juven. Sat. x. 180.
- ↑ As Venus came from the sea the poet supposes some connection with the word rosemary, or ros maris, dew of the sea. Rosemary was worn at weddings, and carried at funerals. See chapter on the subject in vol. ii. p. 119—123, Brand's Pop. Antiquities (Bohn's edition).
- ↑ Coopers, like blacksmiths, give to their work alternately a heavy stroke and a light one; which our poet humorously compares to the Lydian and Phrygian measures. The former were soft and effeminate, the latter rough and martial.
- ↑ One of the follies practised by Inamoratos. Grey quotes a tract, printed in 1659, which informs us that French gallants "in their frolics, spare not the ornaments of their madams, who cannot wear a piece of ferret-ribbon, but they will cut it in pieces and swallow it in wine, to celebrate their better fortune."
- ↑ Spell them in the number of glasses of beer, as before at ver. 570.
- ↑ The plain meaning of the distich is, venture disease for painted and perfumed whores.
