VI Mon. August [1742] hath xxxi days.
VI Mon. August [1742] hath xxxi days.
1 BUSINESS, thou Plague and Pleasure of my Life,
2Thou charming Mistress, thou vexatious Wife;
3Thou Enemy, thou Friend, to Joy, to Grief,
4Thou bring’st me all, and bring’st me no Relief,
5Thou bitter, sweet, thou pleasing, teazing Thing,
6Thou Bee, that with thy Honey wears a Sting;
7Some Respite, prithee do, yet do not give,
8I cannot with thee, nor without thee live.
Publication Notes
The Complete Poor Richard Almanacks, intro. Whitfield J. Bell, Jr., Vol. 1, 1733-1747 (Barre, Massachusetts: The Imprint Society, Inc., 1970): 230. PS 749 A3 1970 Robarts Library
First published in 1742.
RPO poem Editors
Ian Lancashire