Cheating on Death

To my Lord’s with Mr. Creed (who was come to me this morning to get a bill of imprest signed), and my Lord being gone out he and I to the Rhenish wine-house with Mr. Blackburne. To whom I did make known my fears of Will’s losing of his time, which he will take care to give him good advice about.
Afterwards to my Lord’s and Mr. Shepley and I did make even his accounts and mine. And then with Mr. Creed and two friends of his (my late lord Jones’ son one of them), to an ordinary to dinner, and then Creed and I to Whitefriars’ to the Play-house, and saw “The Mad Lover,” the first time I ever saw it acted, which I like pretty well, and home.

I go to the wine-house
to know my fear
of losing time
and make an ordinary lay
a mad love.


Erasure poem derived from The Diary of Samuel Pepys, Saturday 9 February 1660/61.

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