THE WIFE of BATH. FROM CHAUCER. BEHOLD the woes of matrirzonial life, And hear with rev'rence an experienc'd wife I was myself the scourge that caus'd the smart ; Christ faw a wedding once, the fcripture says, And faw but one, 'tis thought, in all his days; Whence fome infer, whofe confcience is too nice, No pious Christian ought to marry twice. But let them read, and folve me, if they can, The words addrefs'd to the Samaritan : 5 ΙΘ Five times in lawful wedlock she was join'd; 15 And fure the certain ftint was ne'er defin'd. |