Posies from Wedding Rings.
Reading edition
Hamlet.—Is this a prologue, or a posy of a ring?
The following posies were transcribed by an indefatigable collector, from old wedding rings, chiefly of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The orthography is, in most cases, altered:—
Death never parts Such loving hearts. In thee, my choice, I do rejoice. 1677. A heart content Need ne'er repent. All I refuse, And thee I choose. In thee, dear wife, I find new life. This ring doth bind Body and mind. Joy day and night Be our delight. Endless as this, Shall be our bliss. 1719. God alone Made us two one. I change the life Of maid to wife. No gift can show The love I owe. In love abide, Till death divide.