Love

Vivamus, Mea Lesbia

by Ben Jonson 1572-1637

From Lyrics from the Dramatists of the Elizabethan Age, ed. A. H. Bullen (London: Nimmo, 1889)

Love

Come, my Celia, let us prove,
While we can, the sports of love,
Time will not be ours for ever,
He, at length, our good will sever;
Spend not then his gifts in vain:
Suns that set may rise again;
But if once we lose this light,
'Tis with us perpetual night.
Why should we defer our joys?
Fame and rumour are but toys.
Cannot we delude the eyes
Of a few poor household spies?
Or his easier ears beguile,
Thus removed by our wile?
'Tis no sin love's fruits to steal,
But the sweet thefts to reveal;
To be taken, to be seen,
These have crimes accounted been.

MLA

Jonson, Ben. “Vivamus, Mea Lesbia.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/jonson/41/.

Chicago

Jonson, Ben. “Vivamus, Mea Lesbia.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/jonson/41/.

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