A THOUSAND martyrs I have made, <br /> All sacrificed to my desire, <br />A thousand beauties have betray'd <br /> That languish in resistless fire: <br />The untamed heart to hand I brought, <br />And fix'd the wild and wand'ring thought. <br /> <br />I never vow'd nor sigh'd in vain, <br /> But both, tho' false, were well received; <br />The fair are pleased to give us pain, <br /> And what they wish is soon believed: <br />And tho' I talk'd of wounds and smart, <br />Love's pleasures only touch'd my heart. <br /> <br />Alone the glory and the spoil <br /> I always laughing bore away; <br />The triumphs without pain or toil, <br /> Without the hell the heaven of joy; <br />And while I thus at random rove <br />Despise the fools that whine for love.<br /><br />Aphra Behn<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-libertine/
