To Bassa

by Sir George Sedley, 1722

That I ne'er saw thee in a coach with man,

Nor thy chaste name in wanton satire met

That from thy sex thy liking never ran

So as to suffer a male-servant yet,

I thought thee the Lucretia of our time:

But, Bassa, thou the while a Tribas wert,

And clashing.

with a prodigious crime,

Didst act of man the inimitable part,

What OEdipus this riddle can untie?

Without a male, there was adultery.

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