is this the prologue, or the posy of a ring?

[tempestsarekind]

In British Rings, 800-1914, Charles Oman includes a brief list of posies, or brief inscriptions, commonly used on love rings (both love tokens and engagement/marriage rings, though it can be hard to tell which is which) from the seventeenth century. These are the sorts of things one might expect: Death only parts united hearts; I rejoice in thee my choice; A faithful wife preserveth life. In the "less ordinary" list, however, he includes what might be my current favorite inscription ever, from a ring in the V&A collection:

Feare God and lye Abed till noone

Words to live by.