When thou art old and bye the fire alone
When thou art old and bye the fire alone
Original Text
Wilfrid Thorley, Fleurs de Lys: A Book of French Poetry Freely Translated into English Verse. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1920. 66. Internet Archive.
1When thou art old and bye the fire alone
2 Bent o'er the candle thou dost twirl the skeine,
3 Then shalt thou quaver, with bewilder'd brayne
4Howe Ronsard sang thy lovelinesse long gone.
5Then if thy servant hear my lover's moan
6 Though toil doth drowse her, yet at that sweet strayne
7 She shall arise to honour thy dead swaine.
8And give thy name immortal benison.
9I shall be buried and long turned to claye
10 Under dark myrtle-trees wherbye I rest;
11 Whyle thou besyde the hearth with shrunken breast,
12Bewail'st the love that thou didst spurn awaye;
13 Then hearken nowe to thy true love's behest:
14Gather the roses of thy lyfe to-daye.
RPO poem Editors
Ian Lancashire
Data entry: Sharine Leung
RPO Edition
2012