THIS votive pledge of fond esteem, Perhaps, dear girl! for me thou 'lt prize; It sings of Love's enchanting dream, A theme we never can despise. Who blames it but the envious fool, The old and disappointed maid; Or pupil of the prudish school, In single sorrow doom'd to fade? Then read, dear girl! with feeling read, For thou wilt ne'er be one of those; To thee in vain I shall not plead In pity for the poet's woes. He was in sooth a genuine bard, His was no faint fictitious flame; Like his, may love be thy reward, But not thy hapless fate the same. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...ON THE ROAD TO CHORRERA by ARLO BATES LONDON SNOW by ROBERT SEYMOUR BRIDGES PORPHYRIA'S LOVER by ROBERT BROWNING THE ADOPTED CHILD by FELICIA DOROTHEA HEMANS THE CREATION (A NEGRO SERMON) by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON THE NIGHT COURT by RUTH COMFORT MITCHELL |