by William Oldys (1696 - 1761)

Busy, curious, thirsty Fly
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Language: English 
Busy, curious, thirsty Fly,
Gently drink, and drink as I;
Freely welcome to my Cup,
Could'st thou sip, and sip it up;
Make the most of Life you may,
Life is short and wears away.

Just alike, both mine and thine,
Hasten 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.

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Confirmed with A Literary Antiquary. Memoir of William Oldys, Esq., London, Spottiswoode & Co., 1862, page xiii


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Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 70