[Page 198]

PETRARCH AND LAURA.

AN EPIGRAMMATIC TALE.

1 DAN Petrarch of old, it has often been said,
2 By some Cardinal urg'd, his fair Laura to wed,
3 With an offer of fortune (and well-tim'd it was,
4 For poets have seldom much rent from Parnass')
5 Cried, my lord you'll excuse me, but I have a reason
6 Why even this offer becomes out of season;
7 I've a new book of sonnets just ripe for the press,
8 Upon the same plan as the last, you may guess;
9 I have there, all along, made my Laura a goddess,
10 And Venus, to please me, has lent her the boddice;
11 While Hebe, Minerva, and twenty to boot,
12 With gifts all celestial have trick'd me her out.
13 Now marriage, my lord, the whole charm would destroy,
14 And hurl her divinity quite from the sky,
15 To my cost I should find her no more than a woman,
16 And my sonnets, alas! would gain credit with no man.

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About this text

Title (in Source Edition): PETRARCH AND LAURA. AN EPIGRAMMATIC TALE.
Author: Anonymous
Themes: sex; relations between the sexes; poetry; literature; writing; marriage
Genres: epigram
References: DMI 31261

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Source edition

Mendez, Moses. A collection of the most esteemed pieces of poetry: that have appeared for several years. With variety of originals, by the late Moses Mendez, Esq; and other contributors to Dodsley's collection. To which this is intended as a supplement. London: printed for Richardson and Urquhart, 1767, p. 198. [8],320p. ; 8⁰. (ESTC T124631; DMI 1073; OTA K099398.000) (Page images digitized from a copy in the Bodleian Library [Harding C 148].)

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