The BERKSHIRE Lady
In FOUR PARTS.
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PART I.
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BAtchelors of e'ery Station,
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Mark this strange but true Relation,
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Which in brief to you I bring,
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Never was a stranger Thing.
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You shall find it worth your Hearing,
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Loyal Love is most endearing,
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When it takes the deepest Root,
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Yielding Gold and Charms to boot.
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Some will wed for Store of Treasure;
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But the greatest Joy and Pleasure
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Is in faithful Love, you'll find,
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Graced with a noble Mind.
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Such a noble Disposition
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Had the Lady, with Submission,
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Of whom I this Sonnet write:
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Store of Wealth, and Beauty bright.
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She had left by an old Grannum
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Full five thousand Pounds per Annum,
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Which she held without Conrroul:
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Thus she did in Riches roll.
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Tho' she had vast Store of Riches,
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Which some Persons much bewitches;
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Yet she bore a courteous Mind,
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Not in the least to Pride inclin'd.
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Many noble Persons courted
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This young Lady, 'tis reported;
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But their Labour prov'd in vain:
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They could not her Love obtain.
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Tho' she made a strong Resistance,
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Yet by Cupid's kind Assistance
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She was conquer'd after all.
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How it was, declare I shall.
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Being at a noble Wedding,
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Near the famous Town of Reading:
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A young Gentleman she saw,
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Who belonged to the Law.
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As she view'd his sweet Behaviour.
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Every courteous Carriage gave her
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New Addition to her Grief,
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Forc'd she was to seek Relief.
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Privately she then enquir'd
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About him she so admir'd,
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Both his Name and where he dwelt,
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Such were the hot Flames she felt.
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Then at Night this youthful Lady
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Call'd her Coach, which being ready
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Homewards then she did return,
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But her Heart with Flames did burn.
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PART II.
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Night and Morning for a Season,
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In her Closet she would reason
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With herself, and often said,
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He has my poor Heart betray'd.
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I that have so many slighted,
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Am at length as well requited,
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For my Griefs are not a few.
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Now I find what Love can do.
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He that has my Heart in Keeping,
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Tho' I for his Sake lie weeping.
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Little knows what Grief I feel,
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But I'll try it out with Steel.
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For I will a Challenge send him,
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And appoint where I'll attend him:
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In a Grove without Delay.
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By the Dawning of the Day.
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He shan't in the least discover,
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That I am a wounded Lover:
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By the Challenge which I send,
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But for Justice I contend.
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He has caused such Distraction,
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And I will have Satisfaction.
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Which if he denies to give,
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One of us shall cease to live.
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Having thus her Mind revealed,
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She a Letter sign'd and sealed;
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Which when it came to his Hand,
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The young Man was at a stand.
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In the Letter she conjur'd him,
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For to meet, and well assur'd him,
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Recompence he must afford,
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Or dispute it with his Sword.
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Having read this strange Relation,
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He was in a Consternation;
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But advising with a Friend,
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He persuades him to attend.
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Be of Courage, and make ready,
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Faint Heart never won fair Lady,
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In regard it must be so,
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I along with you will go.
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PART III.
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Early on a Summer's Morning
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When bright Phoebus was adorning.
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Every Bower with his Beams:
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This young Lady came it seems.
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At the Bottom of a Mountain,
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Near a pleasant crystal Fountain,
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There she left her gilded Coach,
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While she did the Grove approach.
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Cover'd with a Mask, and walking,
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There she met her Lover talking,
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With a Friend that he had brought.
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So she asked whom he sought.
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I am challeng'd by a Gallant,
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And resolve to shew my Talent,
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Who he is I cannot say.
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But resolve to shew him play.
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(Lady) It was I that did invite you,
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You shall wed me, or I'll fight you,
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Underneath these spreading Trees,
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Therefore choose you which you please.
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You shall find I do not vapour,
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For I have a trusty Rapier,
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So now take your Choice said she,
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Either fight or marry me.
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Said he, Madam, pray what mean ye?
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In my Life I ne'er have seen ye,
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Pray unmask, your Visage show,
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Then I'll tell you ay or no.
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(Lady) I will not my Face uncover,
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Till the Marriage-Rites are over.
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Therefore take you which you will,
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Wed me, Sir, or try your Skill.
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Step within this pleasant Bower,
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With your Friend one single Hour,
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Strive your Mind to reconcile,
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I will wander here the while.
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While the beauteous Lady waited,
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The young Batchelor debated,
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What was best for to be done,
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Said his Friend, the Hazard run.
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If my Judgement may be trusted,
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Wed her, Sir, you can't be worsted,
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If she's rich, you rise to Fame,
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If she's poor, you're the same.
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He consented to be Married,
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All three in a Coach were carried,
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Unto the Church without Delay,
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Where he weds the Lady gay.
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Those sweet little Cupids hover'd,
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Round her Eyes, her Face was cover'd
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with a Mask. He took her thus
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Just for better or for worse.
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With a courteous kind Behaviour,
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She presents his Friend a Favour.
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Then she did dismiss him strait,
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That he might no longer wait.
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PART IV.
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As the gilded Coach stood ready,
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The young Lawyer and the Lady.
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Rode together till they came,
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Unto a House of State and Fame.
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Which appeared like a Castle,
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Where you might behold a parcel
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Of young Cedars tall and strait
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Just before the Palace Gate.
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Hand-in-Hand they walk'd together,
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To a Hall, or Parlour rather,
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Which was beautiful and fair,
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All alone she left him there.
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Two long Hours there he waited
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Her return, at length he fretted,
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And began to grieve at last,
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For he had not broke his Fast.
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Still he sat like one amazed,
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Round a spacious Room he gazed,
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Which was richly beautify'd.
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But alas! he'd lost his Bride.
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There was peeping, laughing, fleering.
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All within the Lawyer's Hearing,
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But his Bride he could not see,
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Wou'd I were at Home, said he.
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While his Heart was Melancholy,
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Said the Steward brisk and jolly.
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Shew me Friend, how came you here?
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You've some bad Design I fear.
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He reply'd, dear loving Master,
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You shall meet with no Disaster,
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Thro' my Means, in any Case.
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Madam brought me to this Place.
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Then the Steward did retlre,
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Saying, now I will enquire,
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Whether this is true or no;
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Never was Lover hamper'd so.
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Now the Lady that had fill'd him
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With this Fear, full oft beheld him,
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From a window as she drest,
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Pleased at the merry Jest.
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When she had herself attir'd,
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In rich Robes to be admir'd.
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Like a moving Angel bright
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She appear'd in his Sight.
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(Lady) Sir my Servants have related,
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How some Hours you have waited
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In my Parlour, tell we who
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In my House you ever knew.
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Madam, if I have offended,
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It is more than I intended;
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A young Lady brought me here,
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That is true, said she, my Dear.
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I will be no longer cruel
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To my Joy and only Jewel;
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Thou art mine, and I am thine,
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Hand and Heart I will resign.
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Once I was a wounded Lover
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But now all those Fears are cleanly over,
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By receiving what I gave,
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Thou art Lord of all I have.
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Beauty, Honour, Love and Treasure,
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A rich Golden Stream of Pleasure,
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With his Love he now enjoys
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Thanks to Cupid's kind Decoys.
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Now he's cloath'd in rich Attire,
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Not inferior to a Squire,
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Beauty, Honour, Riches store.
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What can a Man desire more?
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