His eyes grow hot, his words grow wild; He swears to break the mold and leave her. She smiles at him as at a child That's touched with fever. She smooths his ruffled wings, she leans To comfort, pamper and restore him. And when he sulks or scowls she preens His feathers for him. He hungers after stale regrets, Nourished by what she offers gaily; And all he thinks he never gets She feeds him daily. He lusts for freedom, cries how long Must he be bound by what controlled him; Yet he is glad the chains are strong And that they hold him. She knows he feels all this but she Is far too wise to let him know it; He likes to nurse the agony That fits a poet. He grins to see her shape his life, When she half-coaxes, half-commands him. And groans it's hard to have a wife Who understands him. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...SUMMER IN ENGLAND, 1914 by ALICE MEYNELL ON THE 'VITA NUOVA' OF DANTE by DANTE GABRIEL ROSSETTI TIPPERARY: 4. BY OUR OWN A. E. HOUSMAN by FRANKLIN PIERCE ADAMS SHE BEGINING TO STUDY PHISICK ... FALLS INTO A DEGRESSION ON ANATOMY by JANE BARKER EPITAPH ON MR. VAUX, THE PHYSICIAN by WILLIAM BROWNE (1591-1643) VITA BREVIS EST by RICHARD EUGENE BURTON DAN AND DIMPLE AND HOW THEY QUARRELED by ALICE CARY |