432
HUDIBRAS.
[EPISTLE TO
When men upon their spouses seiz'd,
And freely marry'd where they pleas'd: 240
They ne'er forswore themselves, nor lied,
Nor, in the mind they were in, died;
Nor took the pains t' address and sue.
Nor play'd the masquerade to woo:
Disdain'd to stay for friends' consents, 245
Nor juggled about settlements:
Did need no licence, nor no priest,
Nor friends, nor kindred, to assist;
Nor lawyers, to join land and money
In the holy state of matrimony, 250
Before they settled hands and hearts,
Till alimony or death departs;[1]
Nor would endure to stay, until
They 'd got the very bride's good-will,
But took a wise and shorter course 255
To win the ladies—downright force;
And justly made 'em prisoners then,
As they have, often since, us men.
With acting plays, and dancing jigs,[2]
The luckiest of all love's intrigues; 260
And when they had them at their pleasure,
They talk'd of love and flames at leisure;
For after matrimony's over.
He that holds out but half a lover.
Deserves, for ev'ry minute, more 265
Than half a year of love before;
For which the dames, in contemplation
Of that best way of application,
Prov'd nobler wives than e'er were known,
By suit, or treaty, to be won;[3] 270
And freely marry'd where they pleas'd: 240
They ne'er forswore themselves, nor lied,
Nor, in the mind they were in, died;
Nor took the pains t' address and sue.
Nor play'd the masquerade to woo:
Disdain'd to stay for friends' consents, 245
Nor juggled about settlements:
Did need no licence, nor no priest,
Nor friends, nor kindred, to assist;
Nor lawyers, to join land and money
In the holy state of matrimony, 250
Before they settled hands and hearts,
Till alimony or death departs;[1]
Nor would endure to stay, until
They 'd got the very bride's good-will,
But took a wise and shorter course 255
To win the ladies—downright force;
And justly made 'em prisoners then,
As they have, often since, us men.
With acting plays, and dancing jigs,[2]
The luckiest of all love's intrigues; 260
And when they had them at their pleasure,
They talk'd of love and flames at leisure;
For after matrimony's over.
He that holds out but half a lover.
Deserves, for ev'ry minute, more 265
Than half a year of love before;
For which the dames, in contemplation
Of that best way of application,
Prov'd nobler wives than e'er were known,
By suit, or treaty, to be won;[3] 270
- ↑ Thus printed in some editions of the Prayer Book; afterwards altered, "till death us do part," as mentioned in a former note. In some editions of Hudibras this line reads, "Till alimony or death them parts."
- ↑ The whole of this stanza refers to the rape of the Sabines. The Romans, under Koniulus, pretending to exhibit some fine shows and diversions, drew together a concourse of young women, and seized them for their wives.
- ↑ When the Sabines came with a large army to demand their daughters, and the two nations were preparing to decide the matter by tight, the women who had been carried away ran between the armies with strong manifestations of grief, and thus effected a reconciliation.
