OH! breathe not of love, Or breathe not to me, If constant for aye Must your love-motto be. Where are the things The fairest on earth; Is it not in their change That their beauty has birth? The neck of the peacock, The iris's dyes, The light in the opal, The April-day skies: -- Would they be lovely, As all of them are, But for the chance And the change that are there? Breathe no vow to me, I will give none of mine; Love must light in an instant, As quickly decline. His blushes, his sighs, Are bewildering things; Then away with his fetters, And give me his wings. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...EPITAPHS OF THE WAR, 1914-18: CONVOY ESCORT by RUDYARD KIPLING THE GODS OF THE COPYBOOK HEADINGS by RUDYARD KIPLING THE MYSTIC TRUMPETER by WALT WHITMAN DEATH by MALTBIE DAVENPORT BABCOCK PSALM 111 by OLD TESTAMENT BIBLE OF MUSIC by RICHARD EUGENE BURTON THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN: 6. THE LEGEND OF ADRIADNE by GEOFFREY CHAUCER |