Marriage A-la-mode

John Dryden

  Why should a foolish marriage vow,
  Which long ago was made,
Oblige us to each other now
  When passion is decay’d?
We lov’d, and we lov’d, as long as we could,
  Till our love was lov’d out in us both:
But our marriage is dead, when the pleasure is fled:
  ’Twas pleasure first made it an oath.

If I have pleasures for a friend,
  And farther love in store,
What wrong has he whose joys did end,
  And who could give no more?
’Tis a madness that he should be jealous of me,
  Or that I should bar him of another:
For all we can gain is to give our selves pain,
  When neither can hinder the other.

Next 10 Poems

• John Dryden : Ode
• John Dryden : One Happy Moment
• John Dryden : Religio Laici
• John Dryden : Secular Masque, The
• John Dryden : Song ( Sylvia The Fair, In The Bloom Of Fifteen )
• John Dryden : Song For Saint Cecilia's Day, 1687
• John Dryden : Song From Amphitryon
• John Dryden : Song From An Evening's Love
• John Dryden : Song From Marriage-a-la-mode
• John Dryden : Song To A Fair Young Lady Going Out Of Town In The Spring

Previous 10 Poems

• John Dryden : Mac Flecknoe
• John Dryden : Hidden Flame
• John Dryden : Heroic Stanzas
• John Dryden : Happy The Man
• John Dryden : Farewell, Ungrateful Traitor!
• John Dryden : Consecrated To The Glorious Memory Of His Most Serene And Renowned Highness, Oliver, Late Lord Protector Of This Commonwealth, Etc.
• John Dryden : Calm Was The Even, And Clear Was The Sky
• John Dryden : An Ode, On The Death Of Mr. Henry Purcell
• John Dryden : Alexander's Feast; Or, The Power Of Musique
• John Dryden : Alexander's Feast; Or, The Power Of Music