Ben Jonson


  E  P  I  G  R  A  M  S .


LXII. — TO FINE LADY WOULD-BE.  

Fine madam WOULD-BE, wherefore should you fear,
That love to make so well, a child to bear ?
The world reputes you barren :  but I know
Your pothecary, and his drug, says no.
Is it the pain affrights ?  that's soon forgot.
Or your complexion's loss ?  you have a pot,
That can restore that.  Will it hurt your feature ?
To make amends, you are thought a wholesome creature.
What should the cause be ?  oh, you live at court ;
And there's both loss of time, and loss of sport,
In a great belly :  Write then on thy womb,
“ Of the not born, yet buried, here's the tomb.”


 
Source:
Jonson, Ben.  The Works of Ben Jonson.
Boston: Phillips, Sampson, and Co., 1853. 789.
Backto Works of Ben Jonson

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