All's fair! my dear, All's fair in Love and War! You have won completely What I was loath to share. The spoils take Unto your charming self. Drink deep of Life and Love -- All you had dreamed, -- And more. But this I ask -- In his declining years Be his gay comrade, Laugh through tears; Slow to see a fault, Quick to sympathize; Tenderly sweet But not too wise; A lithe and winsome staff To lean upon. The loneliness of twilight, The moonlight's ghastly glow, The hangman's grip upon the throat That will not give nor go -- 'Tis comforting to think, my dear, These he shall never know; Brave as he is, 'tis good to think He shall never know. -- To you I surrender him, Prisoner bound; While I go on alone Bearing a mortal wound. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...CHANSON INNOCENTE: 1, FR. TULIPS by EDWARD ESTLIN CUMMINGS THE LAST CHANTEY by RUDYARD KIPLING THE SPIRIT OF SHAKESPEARE: 1 by GEORGE MEREDITH AT A VACATION EXERCISE IN THE COLLEGE by JOHN MILTON THE HOUSE OF LIFE: 31. HER GIFTS by DANTE GABRIEL ROSSETTI DE RERUM NATURA: BOOK 3. AGAINST THE FEAR OF DEATH by TITUS LUCRETIUS CARUS |