That men not guided by the tract of reafon
But heat and wantonnefs of blood, run giddy
To feal fuch weighty covenants: Better 'twere
The world fhould end in our virginities,
Than fpin itself more length by inconfiderate
And hafty marriages.
Shirley's Conftant Maid.
The joys of marriage are the heav'n on earth,
Life's paradife, great princefs, the foul's quiet,
Sinews of concord, earthly immortality,
Eternity of pleasures; no reftoratives
Like to a conftant woman-But where is fhe?
'Twould puzzle all the gods but to create
Such a new monster.
John Ford's Broken Heart.
Who weds as I have, to enforced fheets;
His care increaseth, but his comfort fleets.
Wilkin's Miferies of inforced Marriage.
The wiving vine that 'bout the friendly elm
'Twines her foft limbs, and weaves a leafy mantle
For her fupporting lover; durft not venture
To mix her humble boughs with the embraces
Of the more lofty cedar.
Glapthorne's Albertus Wallenftein. Fie! this ingroffment, is but mere conceit : Does the fweet fpring lefs cool, lefs fair appear, When many thirfts are quench'd in her, than when But one has drank? Find you not the fame sweets, When more befides yourself, have fmelt your rose? Baron's Mirza. 1. Wedlock to his age, will bring him home To choicer pleafures, and abandon fuch. 2. His age, is fit for nothing, but to rock Another's child; and to rejoice through fpectacles, At the ftrong guefs he has, it is his own.
Richard Brome's Damoiselle.
Faith 'tis no age to be put off
With empty education; few will make jointures
To wit or good parts. I may die a virgin,
When fome old widow which at ev'ry cough
Refigns fome of her teeth; and ev'ry night
Puts off her leg as duly as French hood;
Scarce wears her own nofe; hath no eyes but fuch
As fhe first bought in Broad-fireet; and ev'ry morning
Is put together like fome inftrument;
Having full coffers fhall be woo'd, and thought
Men fhall abandon pride and jealousy,
Ere I'll be bound to their captivity;
They fhall live continent, and leave to range;
But men, like to the moon, each month must change:
Yet must we seek that naught their fight displeases,
And mix our wedlock fweets with loath'd diseases:
When we confume ourselves and our best beauty,
All our reward is, why, 'twas but our duty.
True matrimony's nothing else indeed
But fornication licens'd; lawful adultery.
O heav'ns! How all my fenfes are wide fluices
To let in difcontent and miferies.
Randolph's Mufe's Looking Glass.
But you will fay, the comfort of a life
Is in the partner of your joys, a wife.
You have made choice of brides; you need not wooe
The rich, the fair; they both are proferr'd you.
But what fond virgin will my love prefer,
That only in Parnaffus jointures her?
Yet thy bafe match I fcorn; and honest pride
I harbour here, that scorns a market-bride.
Neglected beauty now is priz'd by gold;
And facred love is bafely bought and fold:
Wives are grown traffick, marriage is a trade;
And when a nuptial of two hearts is made,
There muft of moneys too a wedding be,
That coin, as well as men, may multiply.
Is gone to church, as martyrs to the fire:
Who marry, differ but i'th' end,
Since both do take
The hardest way to what they most defire.
Nor ftaid he till the formal priest had done,
But ere that part was finifh'd, his begun :
Which did reveal
The hafte and eagerness men have to feal,
That long to tell the money.
No marriage, but a well-nam'd rape, where friends
Force love upon their children; where the virgin
Is not fo truly given, as betray'd.
A would not have betrothed people (for
I can by no means call them lovers) do
Such pennance in their marriage fheets; and make
The rites no wedlock, but a facrifice:
Where, like an innocent lamb, the paffive virgin's
Heart is torn from her entrails, not entic'd :
Being condemn'd, not wedded to her husband.
Mead's Combat of Love and Friendship.
Why is marriage legal?
It gives authority to luft, for chastity
Would foon conclude the world.
Prejudice, when error prevents folly!
Sir W. Davenant's cruel Brother.
For wealth has marry'd wealth; with youth age joins His feeble heat, and melts his wither'd loins;
Not to engender men, but sev'ral coins.
Sir W. Davenant To one marry'd to an oldŪfurer.
And wifely ancients by this needful fnare
Of gilded joys, did hide fuch bitterness
As most in marriage fwallow with that care,
Which bafhfully the wife will ne'er confefs.
"Tis ftatefmens mufick, who ftate-fowlers be,
And finging birds, to catch the wilder, fet;
So bring in more to tame fociety;
For wedlock, to the wild, is the state's net.
And this loud joy, before the marriage rites,
Like battle's mufick which to fights prepare,
Many to ftrife and fad fuccefs invites ;
For marriage is too oft but civil war.
Sir W. Davenant's Gondibert.
Marriage is but a church device, that would
Prefer fobriety amongst the virtues.
A ftale unfav'ry thing, when as variety
Gives life to ev'ry fenfe; and doth beget
An appetite, when th' other fmothers it.
John Tatham's Diftracted State.
These marriages in earnest, come time enough,
And spoil the others: The oaths and promises
Of batchellors, pass current, and are not
Difproveable; but a marry'd man that swears
Virtuous love to others, is perjur'd
1. Sir, this is the great market of matrimony:
Here 'tis begun, made up, and broken too.
2. Matrimony for heav'ns fake name it not;
I do not love to hear the found of fetters.
1. Oh, pray let's humour him a little; I
Think indeed the ftrictness of it was but
A kind of juggle, betwixt the women
And the fryars.
2. True, fuch a devilish thing could never
Have been found out elfe: 'Twas worse than the
Invention of gun-powder; and it has
Alter'd the course of love, more than th' other
1. Imparity of minds, is worfe than bodies;
And which two are of the fame mind for ever?
2, Ay, or at any time. If people love
Well, there needs no marriage to confine them;
If not, 'tis cruelty to couple two
Churlish difagreeing curs, and fin, not
To unloose them. I would not use my dogs
So True, men are chain'd in gallies; horfes
Bridled, and oxen yok'd to work:
For flavish offices and things ungrateful,
Constraint is neceffary; but for the
Sweets of love to have a task impos'd; to
Have men like hir'd town bulls, made amorous
By force; and beaten to it? Do men chain
Up themselves at dinner to their tables?
Or do they hunt, or bowl, or dance in fhackles ?
If marriage is a fport, confinement makes it lefs;
If 'tis a work;
Are drudgeries the better for being endless?
Fane's Love in the Dark. 1. Men fhould look with eyes, and not With fpectacles, in affairs of love.
2. Nor would I wed the empress of the world,
Though fhe were the greatest beauty of it,
In that dull method of our grave fore-fathers:
'Sfoot-they marry'd as they purchased lands';
Agreed upon the bargain, then enter'd,
And took poffeffion. They wedded wealth
To wealth; when the chief benefit of riches,
Is, to make election of what moft we like.
1. And if what most you like have riches too,
I hope that makes it not the worse.
2. To me it does exceedingly; it gives
A wife too great a motive to be proud;
When she can upbraid her husband, that 'twas
She, forfooth, increas'd his fortune: whereas
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