Had we but world enough, and time,
This coyness, Lady, were no crime.
We would sit down and think which way
To walk and pass our long love's day.
Thou by the Indian Ganges' side
Shouldst rubies find: I by the tide
Of Humber would complain. I would
Love you ten years before the Flood,
And you should, if you please, refuse
Till the conversion of the Jews.
My vegetable love should grow
Vaster than empires, and more slow...
-Andrew Marvell, "To His Coy Mistress"
I am ashamed to admit that this came into my head today because, well, my old boyfriend S. once had to read the LeGuin story "Vaster Than Empires, And More Slow," the title of which, not knowing the Marvell poem, he immediately assumed must refer to the post office... Anyway, I went to the post office today, and no guesses as to the relative swiftness of the transaction.
This entry was originally posted at
http://cahn.dreamwidth.org/63824.html.