Arthur Quiller-Couch, ed. 1919. The Oxford Book of English Verse: 1250–1900.
John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester. 16471680414. Love and Life
ALL my past life is mine no more; | |
The flying hours are gone, | |
Like transitory dreams given o’er, | |
Whose images are kept in store | |
By memory alone. | 5 |
The time that is to come is not; | |
How can it then be mine? | |
The present moment ‘s all my lot; | |
And that, as fast as it is got, | |
Phillis, is only thine. | 10 |
Then talk not of inconstancy, | |
False hearts, and broken vows; | |
If I by miracle can be | |
This live-long minute true to thee, | |
‘Tis all that Heaven allows. | 15 |