Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


IN A MYRTLE SHADE by WILLIAM BLAKE

Poet Analysis

First Line: WHEN SHOULD I BE BOUND TO THEE
Last Line: AND GREY HAIRS ARE ON MY HEAD.
Subject(s): AGING; BIBLE; MYRTLE TREES; MYTHOLOGY; RELIGION; THEOLOGY;

When should I be bound to thee,
O my lovely myrtle tree?
Love, free love, cannot be bound
To any tree that grows on the ground.

Oh how sick and weary I
Underneath my myrtle lie,
Like to dung upon the ground,
Underneath my myrtle bound.

Oft my myrtle signed in vain,
To behold my heavy chain.
Oft my father saw us sigh,
And laughed at our simplicity.

So I smote him, and his gore
Stained the roots my myrtle bore;
But the time of youth is fled,
And grey hairs are on my head.



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