Arthur Quiller-Couch, ed. 1919. The Oxford Book of English Verse: 1250–1900.
Edmund Waller. 16061687305. Go, lovely Rose
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 |