[634] Phyllis is my only joy

Phyllis is my only joy,
     Faithless as the winds or seas;
Sometimes coming, sometimes coy,
     Yet she never fails to please;
If with a frown
I am cast down,
Phyllis smiling,
And beguiling,
Makes me happier than before.

Though, alas! too late I find
     Nothing can her fancy fix,
Yet the moment she is kind
     I forgive her all her tricks;
Which, though I see,
I can't get free;
She deceiving,
I believing;
What need lovers wish for more?

 	-- Sir Charles Sedley

I have no idea how seriously to take today's poem <g>. The ending is a
wonderful piece of irony, but it is a pointed irony that highlights how
perceptively the poem captures the pattern of many a relationship, so that I
have to wonder how much of bitterness the poet's humour was infused with,
and where exactly it falls along the spectrum from light to biting satire.
'Tongue in cheek' is the phrase that springs to mind, but I'd hesitate to
apply it.

Either way, though, I like it - it's a delightful poem, particularly the
last three lines, which have that unmistakable ring of a poet having found
precisely the right words. Quotable to a fault.

Biography:
  Sedley, Sir Charles, 4th Baronet
  b. March 1639, Aylesford, Kent, Eng.
  d. Aug. 20, 1701, Hampstead, London
  English Restoration poet, dramatist, wit, and courtier.

  Sedley attended the University of Oxford but left without taking a degree.
  He inherited the baronetcy on the death of his elder brother. After the
  Restoration (1660) he was a prominent member of the group of court wits.
  Charles II delighted in his conversation. The dramatists John Dryden and
  Thomas Shadwell were among his friends, and Dryden introduced him into his
  essay Of Dramatick Poesie under the name of Lisideius. Sedley was an
  active supporter of William and Mary at the time of the 1688 revolution.
  In later life he seems to have become a serious legislator. He sat in all
  the parliaments of William III as member for New Romney, and his speeches
  were considered to be thoughtful and sensible.

  Sedley's plays span the period 1668-87; notable among them is Bellamira
  (1687), a racy, amusing rehandling of the theme of the Eunuchus of the
  Roman playwright Terence. Sedley's literary reputation, however, rests on
  his lyrics and verse translations. His best lyrics, such as the well-known
  "Phillis is my only Joy," have grace and charm. His verse translations of
  the eighth ode of Book II of Horace and the fourth Georgic of Virgil have
  been highly praised. The first collected edition of his works was
  published in 1702; a later one, edited by Vivian de Sola Pinto, in two
  volumes, was published in 1928 with a study of the author.

  Sedley's son predeceased him, and the baronetcy became extinct upon
  Sedley's death.

	-- EB

Links and such:

I am reminded of Parker's 'Unfortunate Coincidence':
  http://www.skelly10.com/words/poems.html#Unfortunate

Read more of Sedley's poems at the Poets' Corner:
  http://www.geocities.com/~spanoudi/poems/poem-st.html

-martin

From: sandi_ordinario@

Comments on Poem #634, Sir Chas. Sedley's Phyllis is my Only Joy

This is a top-notch compliment to a lover, wife or sweetheart
regardless...

Despite the poet's knowledge of the cunning attributes of his
object of affection such as faithlessness, flightiness and 
regardless of how she comes on to him whether shy or aggressive,
she always has the ability to affect his demeanor which ranges
from depression to ecstasy. Yet he could not always predict when
the mood swings from one extreme to the other. He only hopes that
it would be more often "her beguiling smile" which makes everything 
all right.

Towards the end of the poem Sir Charles describes his love as not
capable of stable fancy. Does this mean she is capriciuos or conniving?
Yet she does have the saving grace of being able to quickly turn 
around and be kind to him...and all is forgiven.

Sedley though aware of what his lover is up to, still allows her to
have her way of practicing some form of deception. He, like most men 
who are head over heels in love allows their lover to pleasantly or 
at times unpleasantly manipulate them. Perhaps the poet in the final 
analysis is more subtle than his beloved for in the end he gets what 
he wants with her (he of course thinks or at least hopes!) but more 
than this, this sort of Pyrrhic victory is in essence what 
pure love may be all about.

Sandi