Living
Song, Occasioned by a Fly Drinking Out of a Cup of Ale
From Specimens with Memoirs of the Less-known British Poets, ed. George Gilfillan (1860)
Living
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 no more,
Though repeated to threescore;
Threescore summers, when they're gone,
Will appear as short as one.
Cite this poem
MLA
Oldys, William. “Song, Occasioned by a Fly Drinking Out of a Cup of Ale.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/oldys/0/.
Chicago
Oldys, William. “Song, Occasioned by a Fly Drinking Out of a Cup of Ale.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/oldys/0/.