THE first time that the sun rose on thine oath To love me, I looked forward to the moon To slacken all those bonds which seemed too soon And quickly tied to make a lasting troth. Quick-loving hearts, I thought, may quickly loathe; And, looking on myself, I seemed not one For such man's love! -- more like an out-of-tune Worn viol, a good singer would be wroth To spoil his song with, and which, snatched in haste, Is laid down at the first ill-sounding note. I did not wrong myself so, but I placed A wrong on thee. For perfect strains may float 'Neath master-hands, from instruments defaced, -- And great souls, at one stroke, may do and doat. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...AUTUMN MORNING AT CAMBRIDGE by FRANCES CROFTS DARWIN CORNFORD A SUMMER'S NIGHT by PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR BOSTON COMMON: 1630 by OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES A MOTHER'S PICTURE by EDMUND CLARENCE STEDMAN THE BIRD WITH THE COPPERY, KEEN CLAWS by WALLACE STEVENS FAREWELL OF A VIRGINIA SLAVE MOTHER TO HER DAUGHTERS SOLD INTO BONDAGE by JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER |