To a LADY: She refusing to continue a Dispute with me, and leaving me in the Argument. An ODE. Matthew Prior Alexander Huber Editor Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford
Broad Street Oxford OX1 3BG UK
Eighteenth-Century Poetry Archive
Taylor Institution Library St Giles' Oxford OX1 3NA UK info@eighteenthcenturypoetry.org https://www.eighteenthcenturypoetry.org/
Oxford This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. T075639 Prior, Matthew, 1664-1721. Poems on Several Occasions [English poems only]. London Printed for JACOB TONSON at Shakespear's-Head over against Katharine-Street in the Strand, and JOHN BARBER upon Lambeth-Hill. MDCCXVIII. 1718 pp. 35-36. [42],506,[6]p.: ill.; 2°.

This e-text is part of the Works section of the Eighteenth-Century Poetry Archive (ECPA).

XML created for the Eighteenth-Century Poetry Archive (ECPA).

Typography, spelling, capitalization, and punctuation have been cautiously modernized. The source of the text is given and all significant editorial interventions have been recorded in textual notes. This text has been edited to conform to the recommendations found in Level 5 of the Best Practices for TEI in Libraries version 4.0.0.

Library of Congress Name Authority File (LCNAF) text-indent: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; text-align: center; text-align: right; text-align: left; display: inline font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;
To a LADY : She refusing to continue a Dispute with me , and leaving me in the Argument . An ODE . I. Spare , Gen'rous Victor , spare the Slave , Who did unequal War pursue ; That more than Triumph He might have , In being overcome by You . II . In the Dispute whate'er I said , My Heart was by my Tongue bely'd ; And in my Looks You might have read , How much I argu'd on your side . III . You , far from Danger as from Fear , Might have sustain'd an open Fight : For seldom your Opinions err : Your Eyes are always in the right . IV . Why , fair One , would You not rely On Reason's Force with Beauty's join'd ? Could I their Prevalence deny ; I must at once be deaf and blind . V. Alas ! not hoping to subdue , I only to the Fight aspir'd : To keep the beauteous Foe in view Was all the Glory I desir'd . VI . But She , howe'er of Vict'ry sure , Contemns the Wreath too long delay'd ; And , arm'd with more immediate Pow'r , Calls cruel Silence to her Aid . VII . Deeper to wound , See shuns the Fight : She drops her Arms , to gain the Field : Secures her Conquest by her Flight ; And triumphs , when She seems to yield . VIII . So when the Parthian turn'd his Steed , And from the Hostile Camp withdrew ; With cruel Skill the backward Reed He sent ; and as He fled , He slew .