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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

LOVE AND LIFE, by                    
First Line: Give me a fillet, love,' quoth I
Last Line: "said life: -- ""here 's grief."


"GIVE me a fillet, Love," quoth I,
"To bind my Sweeting's heart to me,
So ne'er a chance of earth or sky
Shall part us ruthlessly:
A fillet, Love, but not to chafe
My Sweeting's soul, to cause her pain;
But just to bind her close and safe
Through snow and blossom and sun and rain:
A fillet, boy!"
Love said, "Here's joy."

"Give me a fetter, Life," quoth I,
"To bind to mine my Sweeting's heart,
So Death himself must fail to pry
With Time the two apart:
A fetter, Life, that each shall wear,
Whose precious bondage each shall know.
I prithee, Life, no more forbear --
Why dost thou wait and falter so?
Haste, Life -- be brief!"
Said Life: -- "Here 's grief."





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