Page:Hudibras - Volume 1 (Butler, Nash, Bohn; 1859).djvu/236

152 'Tis like that sturdy thief that stole, And dragg'd beasts backward into's hole; So love does lovers, and us men Draws by the tails into his den, That no impression may discover, And trace t' his cave, the wary lover. But if you doubt I should reveal What you intrust me under seal, I'll prove myself as close and virtuous As your own secretary, Albertus. Quoth she, I grant you may be close In hiding what your aims propose: Love-passions are like parables, By which men still mean something else: Tho' love be all the world's pretence, Money's the mythologic sense, The real substance of the shadow, Which all address and courtship's made to. Thought he, I understand your play, And how to quit you your own way; He that will win his dame, must do As Love does, when he bends his bow; With one hand thrust the lady from, And with the other pull her home. I grant, quoth he, wealth is a great Provocative to am'rous beat: