William Cartwright(1611—1642)

No Platonic Love^[1]

Tell me no more of minds embracing minds,

And hearts exchanged for hearts;

That spirits spirits meet, as winds do winds,

And mix their subtlest parts;

That two unbodied essences may kiss,

And then like angels, twist and feel one bliss.

I was that silly thing that once was wrought

To practise this thin love;

I climbed from sex to soul, from soul to thought;

But thinking there to move,

Headlong I rolled from thought to soul, and then

From soul I lighted at the sex again.

As some strict down-looked men pretend to fast,

Who yet in closets eat;

So lovers who profess they spirits taste,

Feed yet on grosser meat;

I know they boast they souls to souls convey,

Howe'er they meet, the body is the way.

Come, I will undeceive thee, they that tread

Those vain aërial ways,

Are like young heirs and alchemists misled

To waste their wealth and days,

For searching thus to be for ever rich,

They only find a medicine for the itch.

[1] Plato (公元前427—前347)是古希腊哲学家，Platonic Love 指的是纯精神恋爱。