Life Spans and Relativity
Here's a nice poem I came across. It's in an old paperback I've got: Immortal Poems of the English Language. Language moves. We all know that. It can make familiar information so pointed. This poem ("On a Fly drinking out of his Cup") is by William Oldys (1696 - 1761).
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!
posted by fromclay at 3/22/2006 08:11:00 AM
2 Comments:
I wonder why the fly was such an often used literary device during this period? Very good poem, thanks for sharing.
I didn't know the fly made many apparences in that period. But I can see why: a helpless thing that nags, but can't really think; only buzz and land in the most annoying places. But thanks for dropping by my site.
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