One of the sessions in the Our Whole Lives comprehensive sexuality education curriculum for grades 7-9 involves inviting a couple with a baby to visit the class. The couple tell the teens what it’s like to have a baby in the house. Topics that usually come up include parent sleep deprivation, the sense of tremendous responsibility, and of course how much work it takes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With that in mind, here’s a poem by William King (1663-1712).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A gentleman in hunting rode astray,
More out of choice, than that he lost his way,
He let his company the Hare pursue,
For he himself had other game in view.
A Beggar by her trade; yet not so mean,
But that her cheeks were fresh, and linen clean.
\u201cMistress,\u201d quoth he, \u201cand what if we two shou\u2019d
\u201cRetire a little way into the wood?\u201d
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0She needed not much courtship to be kind,
He ambles on before, she trots behind;
For little Bobby, to her shoulders bound,
Hinders the gentle dame from ridding ground.
He often ask\u2019d her to expose; but she
Still fear\u2019d the coming of his Company.
Says she, \u201cI know an unfrequented place,
\u201cTo the left hand, where we our time may pass,
\u201cAnd the mean while your horse may find some grass.\u201d
Thither they come, and both the horse secure;
Then thinks the Squire, I have the matter sure.
She\u2019s ask\u2019d to sits: but then excuse is made,
\u201cSitting,\u201d says she, \u201c\u2019s not usual in my trade
\u201cShould you be rude, and then should throw me down,
\u201cI might perhaps break more backs than my own.\u201d
He smiling cries, \u201cCome, I\u2019ll the knot untie,
And, if you mean the Child\u2019s, we\u2019ll lay it by.\u201d
Says she, \u201cThat can\u2019t be done, for then \u2019twill cry.
\u201cI\u2019d not have us, but chiefly for your sake,
\u201cDiscover\u2019d by the hideous noise \u2019twould make.
\u201cUse is another nature, and \u2019twould lack
\u201cMore than the breast, its custom to the back.\u201d
\u201cThen,\u201d says the Gentleman, \u201cI should be loth
\u201cTo come so far and disoblige you both:
\u201cWere the child tied to me, d\u2019ye think \u2019twould do?\u201d
\u201cMighty well, Sir! Oh, Lord! if tied to you!\u201d
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0With speed incredible to work she goes,
And from her shoulders soon the burthen throws;
Then mounts the infant with a gentle toss
Upon her generous friend, and, like a cross,
The sheet she with a dextrous motion winds,
Till a firm knot the wandering fabrick binds.
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The Gentleman had scarce got time to know
What she was doing; she about to go,
Cries, \u201cSir, good b\u2019ye; ben\u2019t angry that we part,
\u201cI trust the child to you with all my heart:
\u201cBut, ere you get another, \u2019ten\u2019t amiss
\u201cTo try a year or two how you\u2019ll keep this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now you can see why this poem reminded me of a sex ed lesson. The beggar woman just taught the gentleman that there’s more to sex than he knew.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
One of the sessions in the Our Whole Lives comprehensive sexuality education curriculum for grades 7-9 involves inviting a couple with a baby to visit the class. The couple tell the teens what it’s like to have a baby in the house. Topics that usually come up include parent sleep deprivation, the sense of tremendous … Continue reading “Sex ed in poetry”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[214],"class_list":["post-11744","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-culture","tag-sexuality-education"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.danielharper.org\/yauu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11744","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.danielharper.org\/yauu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.danielharper.org\/yauu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.danielharper.org\/yauu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.danielharper.org\/yauu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11744"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.danielharper.org\/yauu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11744\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11969,"href":"https:\/\/www.danielharper.org\/yauu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11744\/revisions\/11969"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.danielharper.org\/yauu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11744"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.danielharper.org\/yauu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11744"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.danielharper.org\/yauu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11744"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}