My Dear Mistress Has a Heart
by John Wilmot

John Wilmot's body of work includes; Poems on Several Occasions (1680), Corydon and Cloris: or The Wanton Shepherdess (1676), A Very Heroical Epistle From Artemisia in the Town to Chloe in the Country (1679), Upon Nothing (1679) and A Satyr Against Reason and Mankind (1679). There is much controversy over his talent as some critics see his popularity being due to his sexual openness and sharp tongue. Others regard him as one of the last important metaphysical poets, a group that included John Donne, George Herbert and Richard Crashaw.

← Previous Poem John Wilmot Next Poem →

My Dear Mistress Has a Heart
by John Wilmot

My dear mistress has a heart
Soft as those kind looks she gave me,
When with love's resistless art,
And her eyes, she did enslave me;
But her constancy's so weak,
She's so wild and apt to wander,
That my jealous heart would break
Should we live one day asunder.

Melting joys about her move,
Killing pleasures, wounding blisses;
She can dress her eyes in love,
And her lips can arm with kisses;
Angels listen when she speaks,
She's my delight, all mankind's wonder;
But my jealous heart would break
Should we live one day asunder.

← Previous Poem John Wilmot Next Poem →

My Dear Mistress Has a Heart by John Wilmot