The Old Mans Complaint:
OR,
The Unequal Matcht Couple.
She pines and grieves, because he cannot ease her,
Hes old and feeble, therefore cannot please her;
Shes young and wanton, and would have it fain,
And thats the cause why he doth thus complain.
To the Tune of, I prethee love turn to me.
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O What a pittiful passion
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it is to be sick for love,
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I now have a Girle in the fashion,
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but I fear she will wanton prove:
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For ever she cryes, O turn, turn.
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and I will turn to thee;
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She would have the thing that I have not,
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for the cramp lyes in my knee.
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My Wife is a neat young woman,
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and I am an aged man;
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I cannot tell how to please her,
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do I the best I can:
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For ever she cryes, O turn, turn,
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and I will turn to thee;
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She looks for the thing that I have not,
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the cramp lies in my knee.
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What hap had I for to wooe her,
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I being so old and tough,
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All that I can do unto her,
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she thinks it not half enough:
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For ever she cryes, O turn, turn,
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and I will turn to thee,
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She looks for a thing that I have not,
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the cramp lyes in my knee.
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She sits all the day a knitting,
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earning of a penny,
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Whilst I abroad am getting
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four groats of ready money:
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And still she cryes, O turn, turn,
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I prethee Love turn to me;
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She wants the thing that I have not,
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O the cramp lyes in my knee
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When I come home full weary,
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and fain would go to rest,
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My wife she makes me tarry,
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to do what she thinks best:
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And ever she cryes, O turn, turn,
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and I prethee Love turn to me;
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She would have the thing that I have not,
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for the cramp lies in my knee.
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By four a clock in the morning
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when I my rest woul take,
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My wife she keeps a turning,
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and causes me to wake:
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For still she cries, O turn, turn,
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and I will turn to thee;
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She looks for the thing that I have not,
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for the cramp lyes in my knee.
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The Second Part, to the same Tune.
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WHen I seem to be sleepy,
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she calls me drowsie Ass;
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And then for sorrow weep I,
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to think of my hard task:
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For ever she cries, O turn, turn,
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I prethee now turn to me,
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She looks for the thing that I have not,
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O the cramp lies in my knee.
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But now alas I am weary
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of this my wretched life,
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Before I lived full merry,
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when I had never a wife:
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For still she cryes, O turn, turn,
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I prethee now turn to me;
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She wants the thing that I have not,
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and alas what remedy!
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I simple old fool must be doting
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upon a young dainty bit,
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But now alas I have nothing
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that can her humour fit:
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For ever she cryes, O turn, turn,
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I prethee now turn to me;
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She wants the thing that I have not,
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the cramp lies in my knee.
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I bought her a Petticoat,
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to keep her from the cold,
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And she bought me a Night-cap,
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because that I was old:
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But ever she cries, O turn, turn,
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and I will turn to thee;
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She would have the thing that I have not,
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for the cramp lyes in my knee.
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For certain I was bewitched,
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to marry a Girle so young,
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She hoped for to be enriched,
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but now I have done her wrong:
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For ever she cries, O turn, turn,
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and I will turn to thee,
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She wants the thing that I have not,
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for the cramp lies in my knee.
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But now I must be contented,
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and bear it all patiently,
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Though I am enough tormented,
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yet must I not angry be;
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For still she cryes, O turn, turn,
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I prethee now turn to me;
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She wants the thing that I have not,
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for the cramp lies in my knee.
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If that I may live at quiet,
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and have what ever I lack,
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Indifferent good diet,
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and cloathing to my back:
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O then let her cry turn, turn,
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and I will turn to she;
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She shall have all that I can do,
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since there is no remedy.
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Then would I not care greatly,
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if horning were my lot,
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So that she would carry it neatly,
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my neighbours knew it not:
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Then let her cry, O turn, turn,
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and I will turn to she;
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She shall have all that I can do,
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do the rest who will for me.
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