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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


ANSWER TO A PAPER OF VERSES SENT HIM BY LADY BETTY FELTON by JOHN WILMOT

Poet Analysis

First Line: WHAT STRANGE SURPRISE TO MEET SUCH WORDS AS THESE
Last Line: PLEASED IN MY ARMS TO FIND HERSELF ALIVE.

AND TAKEN OUT OF THE TRANSLATION OF OVID'S "EPISTLES

What strange surprise to meet such words as these
(Such terms of horror were ne'er chose to please) --
To meet, midst pleasures of a jovial night,
Words that can only give amaze and fright:
No gentle thought that does to love invite!
Were it not better for your arms t' employ
Grasping a lover in pursuit of joy,
Than handling sword and pen, weapons unfit?
Your sex gains conquest by their charms and wit.
Of writers slain I could with pleasure hear,
Approve of fights, o'erjoyed to cause a tear --
So slain, I mean, that she should soon revive,
Pleased in my arms to find herself alive.



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