IN the first ruder age, when Love was wild, Not yet by laws reclaim'd, not reconcil'd To order, nor by Reason mann'd, but flew Full-summ'd by Nature, on the instant view Upon the wings of Appetite, at all The eye could fair, or sense delightful call; Election was not yet: but as their cheap Food from the oak, or the next acorn-heap, As water from the nearest spring or brook, So men their undistinguish'd females took By chance, not choice. But soon the heavenly spark That in man's bosom lurk'd broke through this dark Confusion: then the noblest breast first felt Itself for its own proper object melt. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...SONNET (6) by GEORGE SANTAYANA TREKKING THE HILLS OF NORTHERN THAILAND by KAREN SWENSON AUTUMN DIALOGUE by LOUIS UNTERMEYER TO ALTHEA, FROM PRISON by RICHARD LOVELACE WINTER SLEEP by EDITH MATILDA THOMAS THE BALLAD OF DEAD LADIES by FRANCOIS VILLON UNSUNG by THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH ON THE PASSING OF THE LAST FIRE HORSE FROM MANHATTAN ISLAND by KENNETH SLADE ALLING |