Had I the power To Midas given of old To touch a flower And leave the petals gold I then might touch thy face, Delightful boy, And leave a metal grace, A graven joy. Thus would I slay, -- Ah, desperate device! The vital day That trembles in thine eyes, And let the red lips close Which sang so well, And drive away the rose To leave a shell. Then I myself, Rising austere and dumb On the high shelf Of my half-lighted room, Would place the shining bust And wait alone, Until I was but dust, Buried unknown. Thus in my love For nations yet unborn, I would remove From our two lives the morn, And muse on loveliness In mine arm-chair, Content should Time confess How sweet you were. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...TWO RIVERS by RALPH WALDO EMERSON PUTTING IN THE SEED by ROBERT FROST THE PARTING OF THE WAYS by JOSEPH BENSON GILDER GEORGE MOSES HORTON, MYSELF by GEORGE MOSES HORTON THE HIGHWAYMAN by ALFRED NOYES ON THE LIFE OF MAN by WALTER RALEIGH EMBLEMS OF LOVE: 43. ALL GRASP, ALL LOSE by PHILIP AYRES |