Page:The Works of Alexander Pope (1717).djvu/284
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The WIFE of BATH.
For, since fifteen, in triumph have I led
Five captive husbands from the church to bed.
Christ saw a wedding once, the scripture says,
And saw but one, 'tis thought, in all his days;
Whence some infer, whose conscience is too nice,
No pious Christian ought to marry twice.
But let them read, and solve me, if they can,
The words address'd to the Samaritan:
Five times in lawful wedlock she was join'd;
And sure the certain stint was ne'er defin'd.
Encrease and multiply was heav'ns command,
And that's a text I clearly understand.
This too, "Let men their fires and mothers leave
"And to their dearer wives for ever cleave.
More wives than one by Solomon were try'd,
Or else the wisest of mankind's bely'd.
I've had my self full many a merry fit,
And trust in heav'n I may have many yet.
Five captive husbands from the church to bed.
Christ saw a wedding once, the scripture says,
And saw but one, 'tis thought, in all his days;
Whence some infer, whose conscience is too nice,
No pious Christian ought to marry twice.
But let them read, and solve me, if they can,
The words address'd to the Samaritan:
Five times in lawful wedlock she was join'd;
And sure the certain stint was ne'er defin'd.
Encrease and multiply was heav'ns command,
And that's a text I clearly understand.
This too, "Let men their fires and mothers leave
"And to their dearer wives for ever cleave.
More wives than one by Solomon were try'd,
Or else the wisest of mankind's bely'd.
I've had my self full many a merry fit,
And trust in heav'n I may have many yet.
For