Rowan Tree and Red Thread

At wwhyte's recommendation I'm reading 101 Sonnets edited by Don Paterson. It's a great collection but I have to share this one corker, Régime de Vivre, by John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester.



I rise at eleven, I dine about two,
I get drunk before seven; and the next thing I do,
I send for my whore, when for fear of a clap,
I spend in her hand, and I spew in her lap.
Then we quarrel and scold, 'till I fall fast asleep,
When the bitch, growing bold, to my pocket does creep;
Then slyly she leaves me, and, to revenge the affront,
At once she bereaves me of money and cunt.
If by chance then I wake, hot-headed and drunk,
What a coil do I make for the loss of my punk!
I storm and I roar, and I fall in a rage,
And missing my whore, I bugger my page.
Then, crop-sick all morning, I rail at my men,
And in bed I lie yawning 'till eleven again.

-- John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester



sammywol said she was quite sympathetic to old Wilmot until he threw up in her lap.