Department of English
Faculty of Arts, Chulalongkorn University
Go, Lovely Rose
(1645)
Edmund
Waller
(March 3, 1606 – October 21, 1687)
Go, lovely Rose! |
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Tell
her that wastes her time and me |
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That now she knows, | |
When
I resemble her to thee, |
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How
sweet and fair she seems to be. |
5 |
Tell her that’s young, | |
And shuns to have her graces spied, | |
That hadst thou sprung | |
In deserts, where no men abide, | |
Thou must have uncommended died. | 10 |
Small is the worth | |
Of beauty from the light retired; | |
Bid her come forth, | |
Suffer herself to be desired, | |
And not blush so to be admired. | 15 |
Then die! that she | |
The common fate of all things rare | |
May read in thee; | |
How small a part of time they share | |
That are so wondrous sweet and fair! | 20 |
Notes
G. Thorn Drury states in the preface to his edition of Waller's poems "I have adopted, as far as practicable, the text of the edition of 1686, the last published during the poet's life. The poem text above follows Drury's edition.
4 resemble: compare
Martial
(c. 38 to 41 – c. 102 to 104)
I,
felix rosa, mollibusque sertis |
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nostri
cinge comas Apollinaris; |
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quas tu nectere candidas, sed olim, | |
sic
te semper aet Venus, memento. |
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Go, lucky rose, and with a soft garland circle the hairs of my dear Apollinaris. And when those hairs are grey (long hereafter), remember to bind them still. So may Venus always love you. |
To
Celia
Ben
Jonson
(1573 – 1637)
Drink
to me only with thine eyes, |
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And
I will pledge with mine;. |
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Or leave a kiss but in the cup | |
And
I'll not look for wine. |
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The
thirst that from the soul doth rise |
5 |
Doth ask a drink divine; | |
But might I of Jove's nectar sup, | |
I would not change for thine. | |
I sent thee late a rosy wreath, | |
Not so much honouring thee | 10 |
As giving it a hope that there | |
It could not wither'd be; | |
But thou thereon didst only breathe, | |
And sent'st it back to me; | |
Since when it grows, and smells, I swear, | 15 |
Not of itself but thee! |
To the Rose
Robert
Herrick
(1591 – 1674)
Goe,
happy Rose, and interwove |
|
With
other flowers, bind my love. |
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Tell her, too, she must not be, | |
Longer
flowing, longer free, |
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That
so oft has fettered me. |
5 |
Say, if she's fretful, I have bands | |
Of pearl and gold, to bind her hands; | |
Tell her, if she struggle still, | |
I have myrtle rods at will, | |
For to tame, though not to kill. | 10 |
Take thou my blessing thus, and goe | |
And tell her this, but doe not so, | |
Lest a handsome anger flye | |
Like a lightening from her eye, | |
And burn thee up, as well as I. | 15 |
Study Questions
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Sample Student Responses to Waller's "Go, Lovely Rose"
Response 1:
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Response
2:
Student Name 2202234 Introduction to the Study of English Literature Acharn Puckpan Tipayamontri September 6, 2011 Reading Response #1
Title <Text of
reading response>
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Last
updated October 5, 2014