Poem by John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester

Love and Life

All my past life is mine no more,
The flying hours are gone,
Like transitory dreams giv'n o'er,
Whose images are kept in store
By memory alone.

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,
Phyllis, is only thine.

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 Heav'n allows. 

1. On the Women about Town
2. Grecian Kindness
3. A Song of a Young Lady to Her Ancient Lover
4. A Song (Give me leave to rail at you)
5. Nestor

Arthur Adams Love and Life ("AS some faint wisp of fragrance, floating wide")

Print

3930 Views

Last Poems

To Russian version