Classic and Contemporary Poetry
A LYRIC FROM THE BOOK OF POETRY, by ANONYMOUS First Line: You seemed a guileless youth enough Last Line: Would some day bind us two no more Subject(s): Love;youth | ||||||||
You seemed a guileless youth enough, Offering for silk your woven stuff; But silk was not required by you; I was the silk you had in view. With you I crossed the ford, and while We wandered on for many a mile I said, "I do not wish delay, But friends must fix our wedding-day. Oh, do not let my words give pain, But with the autumn come again." And then I used to watch and wait To see you passing through the gate; And sometimes, when I watched in vain, My tears would flow like falling rain; But when I saw my darling boy, I laughed and cried aloud for joy. The fortune-tellers, you declared, Had all pronounced us duly paired; "Then bring a carriage," I replied, "And I'll away to be your bride." The mulberry-leaf, not yet undone By autumn chill, shines in the sun. O tender dove, I would advise, Beware the fruit that tempts thy eyes! O maiden fair, not yet a spouse, List lightly not to lovers' vows! A man may do this wrong, and time Will fling its shadow o'er his crime; A woman who has lost her name Is doomed to everlasting shame. The mulberry-tree upon the ground Now sheds its yellow leaves around. Three years have slipped away from me Since first I shared your poverty; And now again, alas the day! Back through the ford I take my way. My heart is still unchanged, but you Have uttered words now proved untrue; And you have left me to deplore A love that can be mine no more. For three long years I was your wife, And led in truth a toilsome life; Early to rise and late to bed, Each day alike passed o'er my head. I honestly fulfilled my part, And you -- well, you have broke my heart. The truth my brothers will not know, So all the more their gibes will flow. I grieve in silence and repine That such a wretched fate is mine. Ah, hand in hand to face old age! -- Instead, I turn a bitter page. O for the river-banks of yore; O for the much-loved marshy shore; The hours of girlhood, with my hair Ungathered, as we lingered there. The words we spoke, that seemed so true, I little thought that I should rue; I little thought the vows we swore Would some day bind us two no more. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...BETWEEN THE WARS by ROBERT HASS THE GOLDEN SHOVEL by TERRANCE HAYES ALONG WITH YOUTH by ERNEST HEMINGWAY THE BLACK RIVIERA by MARK JARMAN TIS A LITTLE JOURNEY by ANONYMOUS |
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