"Take, O, take those lips away." William Shakespeare (1564-1616) and John Fletcher (1579-1625). I. Disappointment in Love. Bliss Carman, et al., eds. 1904. The World's Best Poetry. III. Sorrow and Consolation

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Bliss Carman, et al., eds. The World’s Best Poetry.
Volume III. Sorrow and Consolation. 1904.

I. Disappointment in Love

“Take, O, take those lips away”

William Shakespeare (1564–1616) and John Fletcher (1579–1625)


TAKE, 1 O, take those lips away,
That so sweetly were forsworn;
And those eyes, like break of day,
Lights that do mislead the morn;
But my kisses bring again,	5
Seals of love, but sealed in vain.

Hide, O, hide those hills of snow
Which thy frozen bosom bears,
On whose tops the pinks that grow
Are yet of those that April wears!	10
But first set my poor heart free,
Bound in those icy chains by thee.

Note 1. The first stanza of this song appears in Shakespeare’s “Measure for Measure,” Act iv. Sc. 1; the same, with the second stanza added, is found in Beaumont and Fletcher’s “Bloody Brother,” Act v. Sc. 2. [back]

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