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. Seeing the Duke of Ormond's Picture, at Sir Godfrey Kneller's
2. To the Author of the Foregoing Pastoral - (Love and Friendship)
3. A Letter to Lady Margaret Cavendish Holles-Harley, When a Child
4. Cupid Mistaken
5. An Extempore Invitation to the Earl of Oxford, Lord High Treasurer

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