Poem by Matthew Prior

A Dutch Proverb

Fire, Water, Woman, are Man's Ruin;
Says wise Professor Vander Bruin.
By Flames a House I hir'd was lost
Last Year: and I must pay the Cost.
This Spring the Rains o'erflow'd my Ground:
And my best Flanders Mare was drown'd.
A Slave I am to Clara's Eyes:
The Gipsey knows her Pow'r, and flies.
Fire, Water, Woman, are My Ruin:
And great Thy Wisdom, Vander Bruin. 

1. An Ode - Inscribed to the Memory of the Hon. Colonel George Villiers
2. Bibo and Charon
3. Written in an Ovid
4. Seeing the Duke of Ormond's Picture, at Sir Godfrey Kneller's
5. If Wine and Music Have the Power

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