SONGS AND SONNETS.
THE FLEA.
Mark but this flea, and mark in this,
How little that which thou deniest me is;
It suck’d me first, and now sucks thee,
And in this flea our two bloods mingled be.
Thou know’st that this cannot be said
A sin, nor shame, nor loss of maidenhead;
Yet this enjoys before it woo,
And pamper’d swells with one blood made of two;
And this, alas! is more than we would do.
How little that which thou deniest me is;
It suck’d me first, and now sucks thee,
And in this flea our two bloods mingled be.
Thou know’st that this cannot be said
A sin, nor shame, nor loss of maidenhead;
Yet this enjoys before it woo,
And pamper’d swells with one blood made of two;
And this, alas! is more than we would do.
10O stay, three lives in one flea spare,
Where we almost, yea, more than married are.
This flea is you and I, and this
Our marriage bed, and marriage temple is.
Where we almost, yea, more than married are.
This flea is you and I, and this
Our marriage bed, and marriage temple is.
l. 3. 1669, Me it suck’d first and now it sucks thee,
l. 5. 1669, Confess it. This
l. 6. 1669, or Shame . . . or
l. 9. 1669, could
l. 11. 1669, nay
