The Parting by Michael Drayton
Since there 's no help, come let us kiss and part— Nay, I have done, you get no more of me; And I am glad, yea, glad with all my heart, That thus so cleanly I myself can free. Shake hands for ever, cancel all our vows, And when we meet at any time again, Be it not seen in either of our brows That we one jot of former love retain. Now at the last gasp of Love's latest breath, When, his pulse failing, Passion speechless lies, When Faith is kneeling by his bed of death, And Innocence is closing up his eyes, —Now if thou wouldst, when all have given him over, From death to life thou might'st him yet recover. Introduction Michael Drayton was a contemporary of William Shakespeare, having been born in 1563, a year before Shakespeare. Drayton's Poetry is rarely read nowadays, despite the fact that he wrote a large number of poems, including a long verse travelogue about England. With the notable exception of one sonnet, beginning 'Since there's no he...