438
HUDIBRAS.
[THE LADY'S
Or forfeitures which ev'ry lover,
That would but sue for, might recover, 50
It is not hard to understand
The myst'ry of this bold demand,
That cannot at our persons aim,
But something capable of claim.[1]
'Tis not those paltry counterfeit 55
French stones, which in our eyes you set,
But our right diamonds, that inspire
And set your am'rous hearts on fire;
Nor can those false St Martin's beads[2]
Which on our lips you lay for reds, 60
And make us wear like Indian dames,[3]
Add fuel to your scorching flames,
But those two rubies of the rock,
Which in our cabinets we lock.
'Tis not those orient pearls, our teeth,[4] 65
That you are so transported with,
That would but sue for, might recover, 50
It is not hard to understand
The myst'ry of this bold demand,
That cannot at our persons aim,
But something capable of claim.[1]
'Tis not those paltry counterfeit 55
French stones, which in our eyes you set,
But our right diamonds, that inspire
And set your am'rous hearts on fire;
Nor can those false St Martin's beads[2]
Which on our lips you lay for reds, 60
And make us wear like Indian dames,[3]
Add fuel to your scorching flames,
But those two rubies of the rock,
Which in our cabinets we lock.
'Tis not those orient pearls, our teeth,[4] 65
That you are so transported with,
- ↑ Their property.
- ↑ That is, counterfeit rubies. The manufacturers and venders of glass beads, and other counterfeit jewels, established themselves on the site of the old collegiate church of St Martin's-le-Grand (demolished upon the dissolution of the monasteries), where they carried on a considerable trade. The articles fabricated at this place were called by its name, as we now say, "Brommagem ware."
- ↑ Female savages in many parts of the globe wear ornaments of fish-bone, stones, or coloured glass when they can get it, on their lips and noses.
- ↑ In the History of Don Fenise, a romance translated from the Spanish of Francisco de las Coveras, and printed 1656, p. 269, is the following passage: "My covetousness exceeding my love, counselled me that it was better to have gold in money than in threads of hair; and to possess pearls that resemble teeth, than teeth that were like pearls."In praising Chloris, moons, and stars, and skies,
Are quickly made to match her face and eyes;
And gold and rubies, with as little care,
To fit the colour of her lips and hair;
And mixing suns, and flow'rs, and pearl, and stones,
Make them serve all complexions at once:
With these fine fancies at hap-hazard writ,
I could make verses without art or wit.
And shifting fifty times the verb and noun,
With stol'n impertinence patch up my own.
Butler's Remains, v. i. p. 88.
