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Salmacis
and Hermaphroditus
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Wert thou a mayd, and I a man,
Ile show thee,
With what a manly boldnesse I could
woo thee:
Fayrer then loues Queene, thus
I would begin,
Might not my ouer-boldnesse be
a sinne,
I would intreat this fauour, if
I could,
Thy rosiat cheeke a little to behold:
Then would I beg a touch, and then
a kisse,
And then a lower; yet a higher
blisse:
Then would I aske what Ioue
and Læda did,
When like a Swan the craftie god
was hid?
What came he for? why did he there
abide?
Surely I thinke hee did nor come
to chide:
He came to see her face, to talke,
and chat,
To touch, to kisse: came he for
nought but that?
Yes, something else: what was it
he would haue?
That which all men of maydens ought
to craue.
This sayd, her eye-lids wide she
did display:
But in this space the boy was runne
away:
The wanton speeches of the louely
lasse
Forc't him for shame to hide him
in the grasse.
When she perceiu'd she could not
see him neere her,
When she had cal'd, and yet he
could not heare her,
Looke how when Autumne comes,
a little space
Paleth the red blush of the Summers
face,
Tearing the leaues the Summers
couering,
Three months in weauing by the
curious spring,
Making the grasse his greene locks
go to wracke,
Tearing each ornament from off
his backe;
So did she spoyle the garments
she did weare,
Tearing whole ounces of her golden
hayre: |
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| © Twilight
Pictures,
September
2000. This text is freely available for educational, non-profit uses
only. Please report any errors or suggestions to
Drew Whitehead. |
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