THE WILD GALLANT, REVIVED: PROLOGUE by JOHN DRYDEN

As some raw Squire, by tender Mother bred,
Till one and Twenty keeps his Maidenhead;
(Pleas'd with some Sport, which he alone does find,
And thinks a Secret to all Humane kind,)
Till mightily in Love, yet half afraid,
He first attempts the gentle Dairymaid:
Succeeding there, and, led by the renown
Of @3Whetstones Park,@1 he comes at length to Town:
Where enter'd by some School-fellow or Friend,
He grows to break Glass-Windows in the end:
His Valour too, which with the Watch began,
Proceeds to duell, and he kills his Man.
By such Degrees, while Knowledge he did want,
Our unfletch'd Author writ a @3Wild Gallant.@1
He thought him monstrous leud (I'll lay my Life)
Because suspected with his Landlords Wife;
But, since his Knowledge of the Town began,
He thinks him now a very civil Man;
And, much asham'd of what he was before,
Has fairly play'd him at three Wenches more.
'Tis some amends his Frailties to confess;
Pray pardon him his want of Wickedness.
He's towardly, and will come on apace;
His frank Confession shows he has some Grace.
You balk'd him when he was a young Beginner,
And almost spoyl'd a very hopeful Sinner;
But if once more you slight his weak indeavour,
For ought I know, he may turn taile for ever.

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!

Other Poems of Interest...