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SONG.
by Edmund Waller
| GO, lovely Rose— | |
| Tell her that wastes her time and me, | |
| That now she knows, | |
| When I resemble her to thee, | |
How sweet and fair she seems to be.
| 5 |
| |
| Tell her that 's young, | |
| And shuns to have her graces spied, | |
| That hadst thou sprung | |
| In deserts where no men abide, | |
Thou must have uncommended died.
| 10 |
| |
| Small is the worth | |
| Of beauty from the light retired: | |
| Bid her come forth, | |
| Suffer herself to be desired, | |
And not blush so to be admired.
| 15 |
| |
| Then die—that she | |
| The common fate of all things rare | |
| May read in thee; | |
| How small a part of time they share | |
| That are so wondrous sweet and fair! | 20 |
Source:
The Oxford Book of English Verse.
Arthur Quiller-Couch, ed.
Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1919. 310-311.
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Created by
Anniina Jokinen on March 24, 2003.
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