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Old Ballads

TELL ME NOT, SWEET.

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Tell me not, sweet, I am unkind, That from the nunnery Of thy chaste breast and quiet mind, To war and arms I fly.

True, a new mistress now I chase, The first foe in the field; And with a stronger faith embrace A sword, a horse, a shield.

Yet this inconstancy is such, As you, too, shall adore; I could not love thee, dear, so much, Loved I not honour more.

Richard Lovelace.

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