The Works of Sir John Suckling in prose and verse/Upon my Lady Carlisle's Walking in Hampton Court Garden

by John Suckling

UPON MY LADY CARLISLE'S WALKING IN HAMPTON COURT GARDEN

Dialogue

T. C.J. S.

Thom.

Didst thou not find the place inspir'd,

And flowers, as if they had desir'd
No other sun, start from their beds,
And for a sight steal out their heads?
Heard'st thou not musick when she talk'd?5
And didst not find that, as she walk'd
She threw rare perfumes all about,
Such as bean-blossoms newly out,
Or chafed spices give——?

J. S.

I must confess those perfumes, Tom,10

I did not smell; nor found that from
Her passing by ought sprung up new:
The flowers had all their birth from you;

For I pass'd o'er the selfsame walk,
And did not find one single stalk15
Of any thing that was to bring
This unknown after-after-spring.

Thom.

Dull and insensible, could'st see

A thing so near a Deity
Move up and down, and feel no change?20

J. S.

None and so great were alike strange.

I had my thoughts, but not your way;
All are not born, sir, to the bay:
Alas! Tom, I am flesh and blood,
And was consulting how I could25
In spite of masks and hoods descry
The parts denied unto the eye:
I was undoing all she wore;
And, had she walkt but one turn more,
Eve in her first state had not been30
More naked, or more plainly seen.
 

Thom.

'Twas well for thee she left the place;

There is great danger in that face;
But, hadst thou view'd her leg and thigh,
And, upon that discovery,35
Search'd after parts that are more dear
(As Fancy seldom stops so near),
No time or age had ever seen
So lost a thing as thou hadst been.