YES, lady! I can ne'er forget, That once in other years we met; Thy memory may perchance recall A festal eve, a rose-wreathed hall, Its tapers' blaze, its mirrors' glance, Its melting song, its ringing glance; -- Why, in thy dream of virgin joy, Shouldst thou recall a pallid boy? Thine eye had other forms to seek, Why rest upon his bashful cheek? With other tones thy heart was stirred, Why waste on him a gentle word? We parted, lady, -- all night long Thine ear to thrill with dance and song, -- And I -- to weep that I was born A thing thou scarce wouldst deign to scorn. And, lady! now that years have past, My bark has reached the shore at last; The gales that filled her ocean wing, Have chilled and shrunk thy hasty spring, And eye to eye, and brow to brow, I stand before thy presence now; -- Thy lip is smoothed, thy voice is sweet, Thy warm hand offered when we meet. Nay, lady! 't is not now for me To droop the lid or bend the knee. I seek thee, -- oh thou dost not shun; I speak, -- thou listenest like a nun; I ask thy smile, -- thy lip uncurls, Too liberal of its flashing pearls; Thy tears, -- thy lashes sing again, -- My Hebe turns to Magdalen! O changing youth! that evening hour Looked down on ours, -- the bud -- the flower: Thine faded in its virgin soil, And mine was nursed in tears and toil; Thy leaves were withering, one by one, While mine were opening to the sun. Which now can meet the cold and storm, With freshest leaf and hardiest form? Ay, lady! that once haughty glance Still wanders through the glittering dance, She asks in vain from others' pride, The charity thine own denied; And as thy fickle lips could learn To smile and praise, -- that used to spurn, So the last offering on thy shrine Shall be this flattering lay of mine! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...A HUNDRED COLLARS by ROBERT FROST TO A MOUNTAIN DAISY by ROBERT BURNS AN ANCIENT TO ANCIENTS by THOMAS HARDY SUNDAY MORNING by WALLACE STEVENS PLACES: 2. FULL MOON (SANTA BARBARA) by SARA TEASDALE THE AFTER WOMAN by FRANCIS THOMPSON |