(Poem #634) Phyllis is my only joy Phyllis is my only joy,
Faithless as the winds or seas;
Sometimes coming, sometimes coy,
Yet she never fails to please;
If with a frown
I am cast down,
Phyllis smiling,
And beguiling,
Makes me happier than before.
Though, alas! too late I find
Nothing can her fancy fix,
Yet the moment she is kind
I forgive her all her tricks;
Which, though I see,
I can't get free;
She deceiving,
I believing;
What need lovers wish for more?
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I have no idea how seriously to take today's poem <g>. The ending is a
wonderful piece of irony, but it is a pointed irony that highlights how
perceptively the poem captures the pattern of many a relationship, so that I
have to wonder how much of bitterness the poet's humour was infused with,
and where exactly it falls along the spectrum from light to biting satire.
'Tongue in cheek' is the phrase that springs to mind, but I'd hesitate to
apply it.
Either way, though, I like it - it's a delightful poem, particularly the
last three lines, which have that unmistakable ring of a poet having found
precisely the right words. Quotable to a fault.
Biography:
Sedley, Sir Charles, 4th Baronet
b. March 1639, Aylesford, Kent, Eng.
d. Aug. 20, 1701, Hampstead, London
English Restoration poet, dramatist, wit, and courtier.
Sedley attended the University of Oxford but left without taking a degree.
He inherited the baronetcy on the death of his elder brother. After the
Restoration (1660) he was a prominent member of the group of court wits.
Charles II delighted in his conversation. The dramatists John Dryden and
Thomas Shadwell were among his friends, and Dryden introduced him into his
essay Of Dramatick Poesie under the name of Lisideius. Sedley was an
active supporter of William and Mary at the time of the 1688 revolution.
In later life he seems to have become a serious legislator. He sat in all
the parliaments of William III as member for New Romney, and his speeches
were considered to be thoughtful and sensible.
Sedley's plays span the period 1668-87; notable among them is Bellamira
(1687), a racy, amusing rehandling of the theme of the Eunuchus of the
Roman playwright Terence. Sedley's literary reputation, however, rests on
his lyrics and verse translations. His best lyrics, such as the well-known
"Phillis is my only Joy," have grace and charm. His verse translations of
the eighth ode of Book II of Horace and the fourth Georgic of Virgil have
been highly praised. The first collected edition of his works was
published in 1702; a later one, edited by Vivian de Sola Pinto, in two
volumes, was published in 1928 with a study of the author.
Sedley's son predeceased him, and the baronetcy became extinct upon
Sedley's death.
-- EB
Links and such:
I am reminded of Parker's 'Unfortunate Coincidence':
[broken link] http://www.skelly10.com/words/poems.html#Unfortunate
Read more of Sedley's poems at the Poets' Corner:
[broken link] http://www.geocities.com/~spanoudi/poems/poem-st.html
-martin
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