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On A Fly Drinking Out Of His Cup

William Oldys

Busy, curious, thirsty fly!
Drink with me and drink as I:
Freely welcome to my cup,
Couldst thou sip and sip it up:
Make the most of life you may,
Life is short and wears away.

Both alike are mine and thine
Hastening quick to their decline:
Thine ’s a summer, mine ’s no more,
Though repeated to threescore.
Threescore summers, when they’re gone,
Will appear as short as one!

Online text © 1998-2008 Poetry X. All rights reserved.
From The Oxford Book of English Verse: 1250-1900 | Clarendon, 1919

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