Sir John Suckling(1609–1642)
Upon My Lady Carlisle's Walking in Hampton Court Garden
DIALGUE5
T.C.J.S.
Thorn.
D i d s t t h o u n o t f i n d t h e p l a c e i n s p i r e d ,
A n d f l o w e r s , a s i f t h e y h a d d e s i r e d
N o o t h e r s u n , start f r o m t h e i r b e d s ,
A n d f o r a s i g h t steal o u t t h e i r h e a d s ?
H e a r d s t t h o u n o t m u s i c w h e n s h e talked
A n d d i d s t n o t f i n d t h a t a s s h e w a l k e d
S h e t h r e w rare p e r f u m e s all a b o u t ,
S u c h a s b e a n - b l o s s o m s n e w l y o u t ,
O r c h a f e d 0 s p i c e s g i v e ? —warmed
J.S.
I must confess those perfumes, Tom,
I did n o t s m e l l ; n o r f o u n d t h a t f r o m
H e r p a s s i n g b y o u g h t s p r u n g u p n e w .
T h e f l o w e r s h a d all t h e i r birth f r o m y o u ;
F o r I p a s s e d o'er t h e s e l f - s a m e w a l k
A n d did n o t find o n e s i n g l e stalk
O f a n y t h i n g t h a t w a s t o b r i n g
T h i s u n k n o w n a f t e r - a f t e r - s p r i n g .
Thorn.
D u l l a n d i n s e n s i b l e , c o u l d s t s e e
A t h i n g so n e a r a d e i t y
Move up and down, and feel no change
None, and so great, were alike strange;
I had my thoughts, but not your way.
All are not born, sir, to the bay.6
Alas! Tom, I am flesh and blood,
And was consulting how I could
In spite of masks and hoods descry 0reveal
The parts denied unto the eye.
I was undoing all she wore,
And had she walked but one turn more,
Eve in her first state had not been
More naked or more plainly seen.
Thorn.
'Twas well for thee she left the place;
There is great danger in that face.
But hadst thou viewed her leg and thigh,
And upon that discovery
Searched after parts that are more dear
(As fancy seldom stops so near),
No time or age had ever seen
So lost a thing as thou hadst been.