Page:Hudibras - Volume 1 (Butler, Nash, Bohn; 1859).djvu/240

154 For as when merchants break, o'erthrown Like nine-pins, they strike others down; So that would break my heart; which done, My tempting fortune is your own. These are but trifles; every lover Will damn himself over and over, And greater matters undertake For a less worthy mistress' sake: Yet th' are the only ways to prove Th' unfeign'd realities of love; For he that hangs, or beats out's brains, The devil's in him if he feigns. Quoth Hudibras, This way's too rough For mere experiment and proof; It is no jesting, trivial matter, To swing i' th' air, or douce in water, And, like a water-witch, try love; That's to destroy, and not to prove: As if a man should be dissected, To find what part is disaffected: Your better way is to make over, In trust, your fortune to your lover: Trust is a trial; if it break, 'Tis not so desp'rate as a neck: Beside, th' experiment's more certain, Men venture necks to gain a fortune: The soldier does it every day, Eight to the week, for six-pence pay: