Fairest, when by the rules of palmistry You took my hand to try if you could guess By lines therein, if any wight there be Ordained to make me know some happiness; I wished that those characters could explain Whom I will never wrong with hope to win; Or that by them a copy might be seen, By you, O love, what thoughts I had within. But since the hand of Nature did not set (As providently loth to have it known) The means to find that hidden alphabet, Mine eyes shall be th' interpreters alone; By them conceive my thoughts, and tell me, fair, If now you see her that doth love me there? | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...A UTILITARIAN VIEW OF THE MONITOR'S FIGHT by HERMAN MELVILLE THE CASE OF SABRINA SIMPSON USCH by FRANKLIN PIERCE ADAMS WHEN I WAS YOUNG by IRMA TIBBETTS ANDREWS RHENISH AUTUMN; TO TOUSSAINT LUCA by GUILLAUME APOLLINAIRE THE IDLE SINGER: REACTION by QUINTIN BONE THE WHITE WATCH (OPUS 27: NO. 2) by GORDON BOTTOMLEY |