Arthur Quiller-Couch, ed. 1919. The Oxford Book of English Verse: 1250–1900.
Sir Richard Fanshawe. 16081666329. A Rose
BLOWN in the morning, thou shalt fade ere noon. | |
What boots a life which in such haste forsakes thee? | |
Thou’rt wondrous frolic, being to die so soon, | |
And passing proud a little colour makes thee. | |
If thee thy brittle beauty so deceives, | 5 |
Know then the thing that swells thee is thy bane; | |
For the same beauty doth, in bloody leaves, | |
The sentence of thy early death contain. | |
Some clown’s coarse lungs will poison thy sweet flower, | |
If by the careless plough thou shalt be torn; | 10 |
And many Herods lie in wait each hour | |
To murder thee as soon as thou art born— | |
Nay, force thy bud to blow—their tyrant breath | |
Anticipating life, to hasten death! |