Classic Poem

71. To Rufus

I' VE searched through all the town to find
A maiden of reluctant mind,
And yet in Rome I can't discover
One girl who will refuse a lover.
Is it considered base and low
For any maid to murmur ‘no’?
Or is it by the law forbid?
I never met a girl who did.
‘And can one find no modest fair?’
You ask—a thousand anywhere.
‘These coyer damsels, what do they?’
Why, mean the ‘yes’ they do not say.EnglishMartial