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, , , ,
,
If thou | survive | my well-|content|ed day,
,
, , , , o
When that / churl Death | my bones | with dust |
shall cov|er
, , , , ,
And shalt | by for|tune once | more^re|-survey
T T T
, , , ,
These poor rude | lines of | thy de|ceased |
lover,
, , , 2
, ,
Compare | them with | the bet|tering of | the
time,
, , , ,
,
And though | they* be | outstripped | by eve|ry
pen,
, , , ,
,
Reserve | them for | my love, | not for | their
rhyme,
, , , , 2
,
Exceed|ed by | the height | of hap|pier men.
, , , ,
,
Oh then | vouchsafe | me but | this lov|ing
thought:
, T T T 2
, ,
Had^my | friend's Muse grown | with this grow|ing age,
, , , ,
,
A dear|er birth | than this | his love | had
brought,
, , , , ,
To march | in ranks | of bet|ter e|quipage:
, , , , ,
But since | he died | and po|ets bet|ter prove,
, , ,
, ,
Theirs for | their style | I'll read,| his for |
his love.
Lines 2 and 4 are hexameter