NATURA NATURATA.
Reading edition
1 What gives us that fantastic fit, That all our judgment and our wit To vulgar custom we submit?
2 Treason, theft, murder, and all the rest Of that foul legion we so detest, Are in their proper names express'd.
3 Why is it then thought sin or shame Those necessary parts to name, From whence we went, and whence we came?
4 Nature, whate'er she wants, requires; With love inflaming our desires, Finds engines fit to quench those fires.
5 Death she abhors; yet when men die We are present; but no stander by Looks on when we that loss supply.
6 Forbidden wares sell twice as dear; Even sack, prohibited last year, A most abominable rate did bear.
7 'Tis plain our eyes and ears are nice, Only to raise, by that device, Of those commodities the price.
8 Thus reason's shadows us betray, By tropes and figures led astray, From Nature, both her guide and way.