Sonnet XLI. If, aged Charon, when my life shall end

Giles Fletcher (1586?–1623)

IF, aged CHARON, when my life shall end,

I pass thy ferry and my waftage pay,

Thy oars shall fail thy boat, and mast shall rend;

And through the deep shall be a dry footway.

For why? My heart with sighs doth breathe such flame

That air and water both incensèd be:

The boundless ocean from whose mouth they came

(For from my heat not heaven itself is free!).

Then since to me my loss can be no gain;

Avoid thy harm, and fly what I foretell!

Make thou my Love with me for to be slain;

That I with her, and both with thee, may dwell.

Thy fact thus, CHARON, both of us shall bless:

Thou save thy boat, and I my Love possess.