WOULD I exchange With you, my sweet, For the clear eyes' range, And the rapid feet, And the heart's high beat; The white brow smooth, The cheek's warm rose, The lips of youth, And the lovely glows That morning knows? Exchange for these The furrowed brow, And the feeble knees, And the hair's thin snow, And the voice brought low; The eyes' eclipse, And the hand that shakes; The shaming slips That memory makes; And the sevenfold aches? Not I, not I, O young, O fair! Who am standing nigh To the river where The soul strips bare. But I may not speak To tell you why, O smooth of cheek, O bright of eye, Till the day I die. (Have you not heard Of the fair white stone, With its written word By one soul known, And the Lord alone?) | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...LULLABY by CHARLES LUTWIDGE DODGSON FOR THE BAPTIST by WILLIAM DRUMMOND OF HAWTHORNDEN COLUMBUS by EDWARD EVERETT HALE FIRST OR LAST (SONG) by THOMAS HARDY A BIRTHDAY by CHRISTINA GEORGINA ROSSETTI THE YELLOW BADGE by RUTH SCHECHTER ALEXANDER |