登陆注册
4708800000053

第53章

'THERE is a tide in the affairs of men Which,- taken at the flood,'- you know the rest, And most of us have found it now and then;

At least we think so, though but few have guess'd The moment, till too late to come again.

But no doubt every thing is for the best-Of which the surest sign is in the end:

When things are at the worst they sometimes mend.

There is a tide in the affairs of women Which, taken at the flood, leads- God knows where:

Those navigators must be able seamen Whose charts lay down its current to a hair;

Not all the reveries of Jacob Behmen With its strange whirls and eddies can compare:

Men with their heads reflect on this and that-But women with their hearts on heaven knows what!

And yet a headlong, headstrong, downright she, Young, beautiful, and daring- who would risk A throne, the world, the universe, to be Beloved in her own way, and rather whisk The stars from out the sky, than not be free As are the billows when the breeze is brisk-Though such a she 's a devil (if that there be one), Yet she would make full many a Manichean.

Thrones, worlds, et cetera, are so oft upset By commonest ambition, that when passion O'erthrows the same, we readily forget, Or at the least forgive, the loving rash one.

If Antony be well remember'd yet, 'T is not his conquests keep his name in fashion, But Actium, lost for Cleopatra's eyes, Outbalances all Caesar's victories.

He died at fifty for a queen of forty;

I wish their years had been fifteen and twenty, For then wealth, kingdoms, worlds are but a sport- I

Remember when, though I had no great plenty Of worlds to lose, yet still, to pay my court, I

Gave what I had- a heart: as the world went, I

Gave what was worth a world; for worlds could never Restore me those pure feelings, gone forever.

'T was the boy's 'mite,' and, like the 'widow's,' may Perhaps be weigh'd hereafter, if not now;

But whether such things do or do not weigh, All who have loved, or love, will still allow Life has nought like it. God is love, they say, And Love 's a god, or was before the brow Of earth was wrinkled by the sins and tears Of- but Chronology best knows the years.

We left our hero and third heroine in A kind of state more awkward than uncommon, For gentlemen must sometimes risk their skin For that sad tempter, a forbidden woman:

Sultans too much abhor this sort of sin, And don't agree at all with the wise Roman, Heroic, stoic Cato, the sententious, Who lent his lady to his friend Hortensius.

I know Gulbeyaz was extremely wrong;

I own it, I deplore it, I condemn it;

But I detest all fiction even in song, And so must tell the truth, howe'er you blame it.

Her reason being weak, her passions strong, She thought that her lord's heart (even could she claim it)

Was scarce enough; for he had fifty-nine Years, and a fifteen-hundredth concubine.

I am not, like Cassio, 'an arithmetician,'

But by 'the bookish theoric' it appears, If 't is summ'd up with feminine precision, That, adding to the account his Highness' years, The fair Sultana err'd from inanition;

For, were the Sultan just to all his dears, She could but claim the fifteen-hundredth part Of what should be monopoly- the heart.

It is observed that ladies are litigious Upon all legal objects of possession, And not the least so when they are religious, Which doubles what they think of the transgression:

With suits and prosecutions they besiege us, As the tribunals show through many a session, When they suspect that any one goes shares In that to which the law makes them sole heirs.

Now, if this holds good in a Christian land, The heathen also, though with lesser latitude, Are apt to carry things with a high hand, And take what kings call 'an imposing attitude,'

And for their rights connubial make a stand, When their liege husbands treat them with ingratitude:

And as four wives must have quadruple claims, The Tigris hath its jealousies like Thames.

Gulbeyaz was the fourth, and (as I said)

The favourite; but what 's favour amongst four?

Polygamy may well be held in dread, Not only as a sin, but as a bore:

Most wise men, with one moderate woman wed, Will scarcely find philosophy for more;

And all (except Mahometans) forbear To make the nuptial couch a 'Bed of Ware.'

His Highness, the sublimest of mankind,-So styled according to the usual forms Of every monarch, till they are consign'd To those sad hungry jacobins the worms, Who on the very loftiest kings have dined,-His Highness gazed upon Gulbeyaz' charms, Expecting all the welcome of a lover (A 'Highland welcome' all the wide world over).

Now here we should distinguish; for howe'er Kisses, sweet words, embraces, and all that, May look like what is- neither here nor there, They are put on as easily as a hat, Or rather bonnet, which the fair sex wear, Trimm'd either heads or hearts to decorate, Which form an ornament, but no more part Of heads, than their caresses of the heart.

A slight blush, a soft tremor, a calm kind Of gentle feminine delight, and shown More in the eyelids than the eyes, resign'd Rather to hide what pleases most unknown, Are the best tokens (to a modest mind)

Of love, when seated on his loveliest throne, A sincere woman's breast,- for over-warm Or over-cold annihilates the charm.

For over-warmth, if false, is worse than truth;

If true, 't is no great lease of its own fire;

For no one, save in very early youth, Would like (I think) to trust all to desire, Which is but a precarious bond, in sooth, And apt to be transferr'd to the first buyer At a sad discount: while your over chilly Women, on t' other hand, seem somewhat silly.

That is, we cannot pardon their bad taste, For so it seems to lovers swift or slow, Who fain would have a mutual flame confess'd, And see a sentimental passion glow, Even were St. Francis' paramour their guest, In his monastic concubine of snow;-In short, the maxim for the amorous tribe is Horatian, 'Medio tu tutissimus ibis.'

The 'tu' 's too much,- but let it stand,- the verse Requires it, that 's to say, the English rhyme, And not the pink of old hexameters;

同类推荐
热门推荐
  • 洞玄金玉集

    洞玄金玉集

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 路上的风景

    路上的风景

    本书作者执拗地炼字、炼句、炼意,已有了自己的风格,语言如急雨洗过的白杨,意象如朗月照彻的清潭。
  • 危机的逻辑

    危机的逻辑

    本书全面而深入地展现了曾经和正在发生的各种金融骗局和投资陷阱。如次贷危机的幕后真相、斯坦福国际银行诈骗案、美国梅道夫案,中国企业赴美上市的连环骗、比特币投资隐患、互联网金融诈骗、中国股市中的秘密等,涉及银行、证券、慈善、收藏品投资、房产投资、股市、公司并购等多个领域。在生动而真实的揭秘之后,作者还用大量笔墨分析了每个骗局背后的金融原理和经济常识,以及相应的识别应对之法,为我们提供了相应的防范指南。
  • 客杭日记

    客杭日记

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 命师

    命师

    铁口直断,点人前程,是为相师。铜口直断,决人富贵,是为运师。金口直断,改人命运,是为命师。不是算命先生,也不是相面大师,却有断人命运定人前程的高明,施得在命运跌入低谷之时,意外遇到了一名运师,在运师的指点下,青云直上。人在官场商场之外,无权无势,只是民间一平民,却能呼风唤雨,成为无人知道却又让无数人仰慕的隐形掌门人!一次生意失败,引出两大世外高人,三大派系利益纠葛浮出水面,搅动四方风云!
  • 快穿之第二人格有点萌

    快穿之第二人格有点萌

    555号拯救精分男主系统:“宿主大大,那个男人又追来了,要不要跑?”安木:“……,怎么又追上来了,先去任务世界吧”某个刚追到系统空间的男人,“……,又把媳妇追丢了,可恶的555,天天拖后腿,”正在任务世界里的555:怎么有点冷啊,不过终于把大boss甩掉了,太好了\(^▽^)/!安木:“小五,干的好”555:“宿主大大(^~^),么么哒”(我可是冒着被大boss给回炉重造的风险,帮宿主大大的,希望以后下场不会太惨???)。本文1vs1,双洁。
  • 精品女人的68个精致生活创意

    精品女人的68个精致生活创意

    在生活中创意,在创意中生活,让生活允满新奇和带着微笑的爱。生活过于平淡,生活需要创意。科技的进步给我们的生活带来太多的便利,所有的一切都可以信手拈来。当人们在一成不变的生活模式下烦腻的时候,总想来点儿出新出奇的动作,创意生活正在我们的生活中形成一种浓烈的气氛;休闲需要创意,家居需要创意,吃需要创意,爱需要创意……人们在创意中享受生活,品味生活。创意生活,是人们对于个性的表达,是人们对于生活乐趣的找寻,更是人们一种积极乐观的生活态度。
  • 天时地利,我喜欢你

    天时地利,我喜欢你

    缘分是天赐的,也许某些爱情并不是一见钟情,而是一次次的巧合的杰作,懵懂的青春永远不会太过完美,遗憾才能造就完整的岁月,对于爱我们和我们爱的人,每个人都有不同的应对方式,阅读这本书,愿你感悟青春的美好,初恋的朦胧
  • 醉春闺

    醉春闺

    一朝梦回六年前,她初绽风华,为改变悲惨命运,搅动满朝风云。为你出走半生,为你少年荣归。阿蕴,你这身凤冠霞帔真美!可惜,新郎不是我……
  • 盛宠娇妃

    盛宠娇妃

    【简单来说,这就是一个让人羡慕嫉妒恨的女主,在高冷傲娇腹黑的男主身边,漫观云卷云舒,闲看花开花落,携手奋斗创造未来,说到底还是开挂了的幸福人生。】沈家的目的,是宠出一个娇女!想要什么?买买买!有人欺负?打打打!什么?这小子对我家宝宝心怀不轨?来吧小子,我们来好好说道说道!至于底线节操什么的,那是啥可以吃么?沈晏重生了。前世的一切烟消云散,等待她的是崭新的未来。还有那些仇人,一个也不能放过。可摩拳擦掌准备大干一番的她,怎么发现画风全变了?炮灰们自动退散,仇人们纷纷倒霉。原本以为的归来复仇奋斗史,摇身一变成了米虫混吃等死记。不过——外表看着天真无害小白兔,内里却是阴险腹黑小狐狸。还有一点点驭兽异能,以及奇奇怪怪却牛掰轰轰的异人门客!重生路上,自然风生水起,锦绣无双!【男主剧透版】他绝情凉薄,心思深沉,野心勃勃,志在天下。却在她面前,竭力伪装,精心算计,只为她心。他知道她是天上太阳,可以温暖照亮所有人。但他就是要为了一己之私,将她锁在身边!甲之砒霜,乙之蜜糖。“任凭俊男三千,我只取一瓢饮。”*声明*本土重生女,非穿越。简介随意,风格证据,拒绝恶评,欢迎入坑。【推荐我的完结文】重生明星娱乐文《重生造星系统》都市异能中医文《国手丹医》□□□霸气女强古代文《隐帝》□□□华丽转身复仇文《名门女王》