A True Maid

by Matthew Prior

No, no; for my virginity, 
    When I lose that, says Rose, I’ll die: 
Behind the elms, last night, cried Dick, 
    Rose, were you not extremely sick?

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Matthew Prior (1664 - 1721) -- Matthew Prior was the most important poet writing in England between the death of John Dryden (1700) and the poetic maturity of Alexander Pope (about 1712). A significant influence on British and German poetry throughout the eighteenth century, Prior had an effect on several different forms: long philosophical poems either serious or half-mocking, Horatian imitations, psychologically realistic tales, and polished, metrical songs and lyrics. READ COMPLETE BIO