Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


A FRAGMENT by JOHN GAY

Poet Analysis

First Line: GO, ROSE, MY CHLOE'S BOSOM GRACE
Last Line: YOU DIE WITH ENVY, I WITH LOVE.
Subject(s): FLOWERS; LOVE; ROSES;

GO, rose, my Chloe's bosom grace.
How happy should I prove,
Might I supply that envied place
With never-fading love!
There, Phoenix-like, beneath her eye,
Involved in fragrance, burn and die.

Know, hapless flower, that thou shalt find
More fragrant roses there,
I see thy withering head reclined
With envy and despair;
One common fate we both must prove;
You die with envy, I with love.



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