Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE INCURABLE by MATTHEW PRIOR

First Line: PHILLIS, YOU BOAST OF PERFECT HEALTH IN VAIN
Last Line: I TELL THEE, 'TIS INCURABLE -- 'TIS AGE.
Subject(s): AGING; DISEASE; LAUGHTER;
PHILLIS, you boast of perfect health in vain,
And laugh at those who of their ills complain;
That with a frequent fever Chloe burns,
And Stella's plumpness into dropsy turns!
O Phillis, while the patients are nineteen,
Little, alas! are their distempers seen.
But thou, for all thy seeming health, art ill,
Beyond thy lover's hopes, or Blackmore's skill;
No lenitives can thy disease assuage,
I tell thee, 'tis incurable -- 'tis age.



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