Melpomene: or, The muses delight: Being new poems and songs. Written by several of the great wits of our present age, as I.D. T.F. S.W. T.S. C.O. I.B. &c. Collected together, and now printed.

Against CHASTITY.

COld Chastness, should I praise thee, when thou art Natures great'st errour, and canst claim no part In her intentions, which doth still produce Creatures for propagation, and for use? All other Prodigies which here are seen, Partake some essence which is rang'd between Two divers kindes, or joyn two kindes in one: But this is such a Monster as hath none. Nor doth this Rule deceive us, or mislead, Apply'd to Mindes, although some intercede 'Twixt two Opinions, others them confound To some new Paradox: yet none is found So grosly stupid, wholly to exclude All sort of sense. Do then no more delude

With vain appearances, when thou within Art rebel unto Nature, and dost sin Against thy own Creation, and contend, All that thou canst, the World by thee should end. So that in vain Heav'ns light should shine or heat; In vain the Horse should neigh, the Ram should bleat; In vain the Stag should bray, the Bird should sing; In vain the Grass should grow, the Herb should spring, When their kindes grew unnatural and wild, And Procreation were from Earth exil'd.

I damn not yet, a Chastness which doth rise From such a constant Love as makes one prize Some persons more than others: these effects Are Loves prerogatives, which so connects Two hearts, as they appropriate a right Else common unto all: let such delight In one another still; onely that heart Which cannot finde a reason to impart It self to any, doth to me appear So much enormous, I may justly fear

To be a greater Criminal than those Who rob and kill: for though by them men lose; Their lives remainder, what they had, or did, Yet still is theirs: But Chastness doth forbid All life at once. Besides, Thieves often win By acting mischief: But this Monster-sin Getting nought, but a false pretext to strike Even at Lifes root, causless supplants alike Both good and bad. Again, the Murtherer can Repair his loss, and get another man: But Chastness labours even to hide the Mould In which he should be fram'd, and gladly would (Th'rough a subverting of all humane state) At once leave Earth and Heaven desolate.

Now, if this be the most destructive ill In either Sex, since they are thought to kill Who may and will not save; 'tis greatest sure In those are fair: we easier can endure This fault in any else, and better taste The Foul and Wanton, than the Fair and Chaste.

For who thinks Rich and Miserable sute? Who cares for Orators when they are mute? What doth avail a Balm which none applies? And who esteems a Beauty that denies? Let Chastness, then, in the unsound and old, The Pregnant, Marry'd, Vow'd, ill-favour'd Scold, Not be dislik'd: But, in the fair and free, Let it be thought the greatest Crime can be;

Since being 'gainst Natures chief end oppos'd, It seems, in it, all other Vice is clos'd.