An Extempore upon a Faggot

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Dimadick (talk | contribs) at 15:25, 14 April 2018 (→‎References). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

"An Extempore upon a Faggot" is an eight-line poem of unknown authorship dating from the mid-17th century. It has been attributed to John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester, John Dryden, John Milton, and Sir John Suckling.

In September 2010, Jennifer Batt, lecturer in English at Jesus College, Oxford, published a version of the poem found in the 1708 Oxford and Cambridge Miscellany Poems,[1] part of the Harding Collection at the Bodleian Library.[2] The original anthology attributes this version to John Milton.[3]

Text of poem

Have you not in a Chimney seen
A Faggot which is moist and green
How coyly it receives the Heat
And at both ends do’s weep and sweat?
So fares it with a tender Maid
When first upon her Back she’s laid
But like dry Wood th’ experienced Dame
Cracks and rejoices in the Flame.

Notes

  1. ^ Fenton, Elijah, ed. (1708). Oxford and Cambridge Miscellany Poems. p. 286.
  2. ^ "Archive of irreverent miscellanies put online". University of Oxford. 23 September 2010. Archived from the original on 26 September 2010. Retrieved 2010-09-23. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  3. ^ Rimbault, Edward F. (1869). "Miltoniana". Notes and Queries. Oxford University Press: 421.

References