Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, AN OLD TALE OF THREE, by WILLIAM SHARP


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

AN OLD TALE OF THREE, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Ah, bonnie darling, lift your dark eyes dreaming!
Last Line: Ah, hell of my heart! Ye are dust to me—and dust with dust may woo!
Alternate Author Name(s): Macleod, Fiona
Subject(s): Death; Fidelity; Love; Reunions; Unfaithfulness; Dead, The; Faithfulness; Constancy; Infidelity; Adultery; Inconstancy


Ah, bonnie darling, lift your dark eyes dreaming!
See, the firelight fills the gloaming, though deep darkness grows without—

[Hush, dear, hush, I hear the sea-birds screaming,
And down beyond the haven the tide comes with a shout!]

Ah, birdeen, sweetheart, sure he is not coming,
He who has your hand in his, while I have all your heart—

[Hush, dear, hush, I hear the wild bees humming
Far away in the underworld where true love shall not part!]

Darling, darling, darling, all the world is singing,
Singing, singing, singing a song of joy for me!

[Hush, dear, hush, what wild sea-wind is bringing
Gloom o' the sea about thy brow, athwart the eyes of thee?]

Ah, heart o' me, darling, darling, all my heart's aflame!
Sure, at the last we are all in all, all in all we two!
At the Door

A VOICE

This is the way I take my own, this is the boon I claim!
Sure at the last, ye are all in all, all in all, ye two—

(Later, in the dark, the living brooding beside the dead:—)

Ah, hell of my heart! Ye are dust to me—and dust with dust may woo!





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