Jan 20
On a Fly Drinking Out of His Cup (Oldys)
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On a Fly Drinking Out of His Cup, by William Oldys (1696-1761)
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 ’s no more,
Though repeated to threescore.
Threescore summers, when they’re gone,
Will appear as short as one!
*A score is twenty, so threescore is sixty, the infamous “four score and seven years ago” is eighty-seven.