Response To To His Coy Mistress
Had I been one to trust in Faith-
Dear Sir, in this love we would bathe.
Thy poem I would hide away,
Yet the lord won't lead us astray.
In faces of harsh countenance,
We would stand together, unmoved,
While the universe shatters, bruised.
If thou should ever leave me, spurn-
Me, By river Styx I sojourn
Until the stars above are doused,
Until the sounding waves are roused.
''Tis from such stuff our love is made,
The Gold of Gold, of less mettle-
Would fade
But, Sir, where has my coyness gone?
In words, I too could speak of con.
My heart is ill-fitting to thee,
When thou play the game Birds and Bee.
You would make me the falcon proud,
Breaker of hearts, the coy, cruel shroud
In thine diverse menagerie.
Prettier and prettier, Valerie,
Elizabeth, Jane and Amy.
A name, tears lost for each lady
How dare I lay claim on thy heart,
And receive the third, tenth part?
I do you no wrong, telling truth,
Nor do I fault you for knowing youth.
If only seconds were longer,
We would not have to part sooner.
If we were young forever,
Do turn your eyes to seek farther,
Into my mind, bones and blood
For cruel is the beauty you so admire,
I so betrayed by beauty when-
in time I lose what you desire.
Now, I admit I know you not.
Time will reveal your heart, I ought
To think it lies not in poetry,
Life is a different story.
Say fidelity is a lie,
Fate and romance is harsh and sly.
For we mortals can only hope,
For deliverance that comes slow.
If we were written in the stars,
Thou would be patient to wait more.
If thy love be truer then before,
In poems we keep that ardent-
Affection, in life, be prudent
And penitent. Only in words,
Can we have an eternity.
Time is a tough adversary.
You seizing the day in glory,
I living out my days on the
Contrary.
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