..come kiss me, sweet and twenty,/Youth's a stuff will not endure."

Although the singer of "O Mistress Mine" is equally aware as the author of Sonnet 18 that life is not forever, and we must love while we can, his attitude is not to make sense of this by trying to create something permanent in the form of a poem, but to entertain and achieve an objective of a kiss! Life is short so enjoy it while you can, is the message of the song. Unlike a written poem, a song ends with the end of a performance, so it celebrates joy, not permanency.

The fact that the song occurs during a play also means that the audience likely wants listen to something active, rather than take time to meditate on a few lines' meaning. A person, even a lover, can go to the privacy of a room and read...
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