(361.)
A Gentleman pretending to have a great de∣sire to marry, ask'd advice of a friend concerning so weighty a matter; a mad Hec. of the Town hea∣ring thereof, sent him these lines, I know not whether designedly to divert him from marriage, or to shew his own (Ala Mode) aversion to it.
Out of stark love and errant devotion,
Of Marriage, I'll give you this galloping notion.
'Tis bane of all business, the end of all pleasure,
Consumption of youth, wit, virtue, and treasure.
'Tis the Rack of our thoughts, Night-mare of our Sleeps,
That calls us to work before the day peeps;
Commands to make brick without stuble or straw,
For a C... hath no sense, nor conscience, or law.
If you must be for flesh, take the way that is no∣ble,
In a generous wench there is nothing of trouble.
You come on, you go off, say, do what you please,