300
HUDIBRAS.
[PART III.
But rather than not go before,
Abandon heaven at the door:[1]
And if th' indulgent law allows 875
A greater freedom to the spouse,
The reason is, because the wife
Runs greater hazards of her life;
Is trusted with the form and matter
Of all mankind, by careful nature, 880
Where man brings nothing but the stuff
She frames the wond'rous fabric of;
Who therefore, in a strait, may freely
Demand the clergy of her belly,[2]
And make it save her the same way, 885
It seldom misses to betray;
Unless both parties wisely enter
Into the liturgy-indenture.[3]
And tho' some fits of small contest
Sometimes fall out among the best, 890
That is no more than ev'ry lover
Does from his hackney lady suffer;
That makes no breach of faith and love,
But rather, sometimes, serves t'improve;
For as, in running, ev'ry pace 895
Is but between two legs a race,
In which both do their uttermost
To get before, and win the post;
Yet when they're at their race's ends,
They're still as kind and constant friends, 900
And, to relieve their weariness,
By turns give one another ease;
Abandon heaven at the door:[1]
And if th' indulgent law allows 875
A greater freedom to the spouse,
The reason is, because the wife
Runs greater hazards of her life;
Is trusted with the form and matter
Of all mankind, by careful nature, 880
Where man brings nothing but the stuff
She frames the wond'rous fabric of;
Who therefore, in a strait, may freely
Demand the clergy of her belly,[2]
And make it save her the same way, 885
It seldom misses to betray;
Unless both parties wisely enter
Into the liturgy-indenture.[3]
And tho' some fits of small contest
Sometimes fall out among the best, 890
That is no more than ev'ry lover
Does from his hackney lady suffer;
That makes no breach of faith and love,
But rather, sometimes, serves t'improve;
For as, in running, ev'ry pace 895
Is but between two legs a race,
In which both do their uttermost
To get before, and win the post;
Yet when they're at their race's ends,
They're still as kind and constant friends, 900
And, to relieve their weariness,
By turns give one another ease;
- ↑ That is, will not even go to church if they have not their right of precedence. Chaucer says of the wife of Bath, 451:In all the parish wif ne was there non,
That to the offring before hire shulde gon,
And if ther did, certain so wroth was she,
That she was out of alle charitee. - ↑ Meaning benefit of clergy, on account of pregnancy. See note on line 522, at page 286.
- ↑ This alludes to the form enjoined in the Directory, when it was contrary to law to be married by the service in the Book of Common Prayer.
