Robert Herrick: What Kind of Mistress He Would Have.

WHAT KIND OF MISTRESS HE WOULD HAVE.
by Robert Herrick

BE the mistress of my choice
Clean in manners, clear in voice ;
Be she witty, more than wise,
Pure enough, though not precise ;
Be she showing in her dress
Like a civil wilderness ;
That the curious may detect
Order in a sweet neglect ;
Be she rolling in her eye,
Tempting all the passers-by ;
And each ringlet of her hair
An enchantment, or a snare
For to catch the lookers-on ;
But herself held fast by none.
Let her Lucrece all day be,
Thais in the night, to me.
Be she such, as neither will
Famish me, nor overfill.

Source:
Herrick, Robert. Works of Robert Herrick. vol II.
Alfred Pollard, ed.
London, Lawrence & Bullen, 1891. 36-37.

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