Maxioms by Ben Jonson
'Tis no sin love's fruits to steal;
But the sweet thefts to reveal;
To be taken, to read more
'Tis no sin love's fruits to steal;
But the sweet thefts to reveal;
To be taken, to be seen,
These have crimes accounted been.
Follow a shadow, it still flies you,
Seem to fly, it will pursue:
So court a mistress, read more
Follow a shadow, it still flies you,
Seem to fly, it will pursue:
So court a mistress, she denies you;
Let her alone, she will court you.
Say are not women truly, then,
Styled but the shadows of us men?
Still to be neat, still to be drest,
As you were going to a feast,
Still to read more
Still to be neat, still to be drest,
As you were going to a feast,
Still to be powder'd, all perfum'd.
Lady, it is to be presumed,
Though art's hid causes are not found,
All is not sweet, all is not sound.
A brute without a single redeeming point.
A brute without a single redeeming point.
