Classic and Contemporary Poetry
EDGAR'S WIFE, by PHOEBE CARY Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: I know that edgar's kind and good Last Line: And I never shall make it mine! Subject(s): Marriage; Dissatisfaction | ||||||||
I KNOW that Edgar's kind and good, And I know my home is fine, If I only could live in it, mother, And only could make it mine. You need not look at me and smile, In such a strange, sad way; I am not out of my head at all, And I know just what I say. I know that Edgar freely gives Whate'er he thinks will please; But it's what we love that brings us good, And my heart is not in these. Oh, I wish I could stand where the maples Drop their shadows, cool and dim; Or lie in the sweet red clover, Where I walked, but not with him! Nay, you need not mind me, mother, I love him -- or at the worst, I try to shut the past from my heart; But you know he was not the first! And I strive to make him feel my life Is his, and here, as I ought; But he never can come into the world That I live in, in my thought. For whether I wake, or whether I sleep, It is always just the same; I am far away to the time that was, Or the time that never came. Sometimes I walk in the paradise, That, alas! was not to be; Sometimes I sit the whole night long A child on my father's knee; And when my sweet sad fancies run Unheeded as they list, They go and search about to find The things my life has missed. Aye! this love is a tyrant always, And whether for evil or good, Neither comes nor goes for our bidding, -- But I've done the best I could. And Edgar's a worthy man I know, And I know my house is fine; But I never shall live in it, mother, And I never shall make it mine! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...RUNNING AWAY FROM HOME by CAROLYN KIZER ALMOST, NEVER by NAOMI SHIHAB NYE TIRADE FOR THE NEXT-TO-LAST ACT (VERSION A) by NINA CASSIAN MORTAL COMBAT by MARY ELIZABETH COLERIDGE ON MONSIEUR'S DEPARTURE by ELIZABETH I A LEGEND OF THE NORTHLAND by PHOEBE CARY |
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