Good Counsel To A Young Maid
When you the sun-burnt Pilgrim see,
Fainting with thirst, haste to the springs;
Mark how at first with bended knee
He courts the crystal Nymphs, and flings
His body to the earth, where he,
Prostrate, adores the flowing Deitie.
But, when his sweaty face is drencht
In her cool waves, when from her sweet
Bosom his burning thirst is quencht;
Then mark how with disdainful feet
He kicks her banks, and from the place
That thus refresh'd him, moves with sullen pace.
So shalt thou be despis'd, fair Maid,
When by the sated Lover tasted;
What first he did with tears invade,
Shall afterwards with scorn be wasted;
When all thy Virgin springs go dry,
When no streams shall be left, but in thine eye.
-- Thomas Carew (1595-1640)
