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. A Sailor's Wife
2. An Ode - Presented to the King, on His Majesty's Arrival in Holland, after the Queen's Death
3. Cupid Mistaken
4. A Lover's Anger
5. A Song (In vain you tell your parting lover)

Print

1189 Views

Last Poems

To Russian version