| William Stanley Braithwaite, ed. The Book of Restoration Verse. 1910. | | | | The Parting | | By Thomas Stanley (1625–1678) |
| | | I GO dear Saint, away, | |
| Snatch’d from thy arms | |
| By far less pleasing charms, | |
| Than those I did obey; | |
| But if hereafter thou shalt know | 5 |
| That grief hath killed me, come, | |
| And on my tomb | |
| Drop, drop a tear or two; | |
| Break with thy sighs the silence of my sleep, | |
| And I shall smile in death to see thee weep. | 10 |
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| Thy tears may have the power | |
| To reinspire | |
| My ashes with new fire, | |
| Or change me to some flower, | |
| Which, planted ’twixt thy breasts, shall grow: | 15 |
| Veil’d in this shape, I will | |
| Dwell with thee still, | |
| Court, kiss, enjoy thee too: | |
| Securely we’ll contemn all envious force, | |
| And thus united be by death’s divorce. | 20 | | | |
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