Contents -BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD

William Stanley Braithwaite, ed. The Book of Restoration Verse. 1910.

To a Lady, Asking How Long He Would Love Her

Sir George Etherege (1635?–1691)

IT is not, Celia, in our power

To say how long our love will last;

It may be we within this hour

May lose those joys we now do taste:

The blessèd, that immortal be,

From change in love are only free.

Then since we mortal lovers are,

Ask not how long our love may last;

But while it does, let us take care

Each minute be with pleasure pass’d:

Were it not madness to deny

To live because we’re sure to die?