Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, EPISTLE TO MR. FOX, FROM HAMPTON COURT: NATURE QUERIES, by JOHN HERVEY (1696-1743)


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

EPISTLE TO MR. FOX, FROM HAMPTON COURT: NATURE QUERIES, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Will the wise elephant desert the wood
Last Line: And eat when hungry, and when am'rous love?
Alternate Author Name(s): Hervey Of Ickworth, Baron
Subject(s): Animals; Elephants; Hunger; Nature; Taste (sense)


I

WILL the wise Elephant desert the wood,
To imitate the whale and range the flood?
Or will the Mole her native earth forsake,
In wanton madness to explore the lake?

II

Would any feather'd maiden of the wood,
Or scaly female of the peopled flood,
When lust and hunger call'd, its force resist?
In abstinence or chastity persist?
And cry, "If Heaven's intent were understood,
These tastes were only given to be withstood"?
Or would they wisely both these gifts improve,
And eat when hungry, and when am'rous love?





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