Love and Life

Lord John Wilmot 1647 (Ditchley, Oxfordshire) – 1680 (Woodstock, Oxfordshire)



All my past life is mine no more,
The flying hours are gone,
Like transitory dreams giv'n o'er,
Whose images are kept in store
By memory alone.

The time that is to come is not;
How can it then be mine?
The present moment's all my lot;
And that, as fast as it is got,
Phyllis, is only thine.

Then talk not of inconstancy,
False hearts, and broken vows;
If I, by miracle, can be
This live-long minute true to thee,
'Tis all that Heav'n allows.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on May 01, 2023

27 sec read
127

Quick analysis:

Scheme AXXAX BCBBC DEDDE
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 436
Words 88
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 5, 5, 5

Lord John Wilmot

John Wilmot was an English poet and courtier of King Charles II's Restoration court. more…

All Lord John Wilmot poems | Lord John Wilmot Books

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