Now tell me, if thou canst not love a wife,

Made thine by every tie, and thine for life,

Why wed at all? Why waste the wine and cakes

The queasy-stomached guest at parting takes,

And the rich present, which the bridal right

Claims for the favors of the happy night,

The charger, where, triumphantly inscrolled,

The Dacian Hero shines in current gold?

If thou canst love, and thy besotted mind

Is so uxoriously to one inclined,