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Thomas Flatman (1637-1688)
The Batchelors Song.
LIke a Dog with a bottle, fast ti'd to his tail,
Like Vermin in a trap, or a Thief in a Jail,
Or like a Tory in a Bog,
Or an Ape with a Clog:
Such is the man, who when he might go free,
Does his liberty loose,
For a Matrimony noose,
And sels himself into Captivity;
The Dog he do's howl, when his bottle do's jog,
The Vermin, the Theif, and the Tory in vain
Of the trap, of the Jail, of the Quagmire complain.
But welfare poor Pug! for he playes with his Clog;
And tho' he would be rid on't rather than his life,
Yet he lugg's it, and he hug's it, as a man does his wife.
clog = a heavy piece of wood attached to the leg or neck
on't = often used as "of it" in this time period
Pug = a quasi-proper name for an ape
Tory = dispossessed, outlaw, Irishman
The above poem can be found in:
Flatman, Thomas. Poems and Songs. London:
Printed by S. and B.G. for Benjamin Took and Jonathan Edwin, 1674.
A Person of Quality, ed. Westminster-Drollery. Or a Choice
Collection of the Newest Songs & Poems Both at Court & Theaters.
London: Printed for H. Brome, Licensed by Roger L'Estrange, 1671.
The above poem was published in the collection The Old Huntsman and Other Poems in
1917.
It can be found in:
Sassoon, Siegfried. Collected Poems. New York: The Viking Press, 1949.
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