Ah my Perilla! do'st thou grieve to see Me, day by day, to steale away from thee? Age cals me hence, and my gray haires bid come, And haste away to mine eternal home; 'Twill not be long (Perilla) after this, That I must give thee the supremest kisse; Dead when I am, first cast in salt, and bring Part of the creame from that Religious Spring; With which (Perilla) wash my hands and feet; That done, then wind me in that very sheet Which wrapt thy smooth limbs (when thou didst implore The Gods protection, but the night before) Follow me weeping to my Turfe, and there Let fall a Primrose, and with it a teare: Then lastly, let some weekly-strewings be Devoted to the memory of me: Then shall my Ghost not walk about, but keep Still in the coole, and silent shades of sleep. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...IN THE JEWISH SYNAGOGUE AT NEWPORT by EMMA LAZARUS THE WILLING MISTRESS by APHRA BEHN TO SIR GODFREY KNELLER by JOHN DRYDEN WHY I WRITE NOT OF LOVE by BEN JONSON THE WRECK OF THE HESPERUS by HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW THE GRASSHOPPER; TO MY NOBLE FRIEND MR. CHARLES COTTON by RICHARD LOVELACE |