Kitap 1
Here had I ended, but experience finds,
That sundry women are of sundry minds;
With various crotchets fill'd, and hard to please,
They therefore must be caught by various ways.
860
All things are not produced in any soil;This is one of Ovid's happy ways of making use of common similes, and this and others are brought in here, to show a lover must comport himself variously, according to the various humors of women.
This ground for wine is proper, that for oil.
So 'tis in men, but more in woman-kind;
Diff'rent in face, in manners, and in mind.
But wise men shift their sails with ev'ry wind;
865
As changeful Proteus varied oft his shape,
And did in sundry forms and figures 'scape.
A running stream, a standing tree became,
A roaring lion, or a bleating lamb.
Some fish with harpoons, some with darts, are struck,This gives us a various idea, and livelily expresses the author's thoughts, that women are to be caught several ways.
870
Some drawn with nets, some hang upon the hook;
So turn thyself; and imitating them,
Try several tricks, and change thy stratagem.
One rule will not for diff'rent ages hold;
The jades grow cunning, as they grow more old.
875
Then talk not bawdy to the bashful maid;
