A HASTY jest I once let fall -- As jests are wont to be, untrue -- As if the sum of joy to you Were hunt and picnic, rout and ball. Your eyes met mine: I did not blame; You saw it: but I touched too near Some noble nerve; a silent tear Spoke soft reproach, and lofty shame. I do not wish those words unsaid. Unspoilt by praise and pleasure, you In that one look to woman grew, While with a child, I thought, I played. Next to mine own beloved so long! I have not spent my heart in vain. I watched the blade; I see the grain; A woman's soul, most soft, yet strong. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...OLNEY HYMNS: 1. WALKING WITH GOD by WILLIAM COWPER HIS PRAYER TO BEN JONSON by ROBERT HERRICK INVITES POETS AND HISTORIANS TO WRITE IN CYNTHIA'S PRAISE by PHILIP AYRES BRIDAL SERENADE by THOMAS LOVELL BEDDOES CHINESE PICTURE by EDMUND CHARLES BLUNDEN |