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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


LOVE'S DIET by WILLIAM MOTHERWELL

Poet Analysis

First Line: TELL ME, FAIR MAID, TELL ME TRULY
Last Line: THAT THE SMALL ELF'S LIQUORED.
Subject(s): LOVE - BEGINNINGS;

TELL me, fair maid, tell me truly,
How should infant Love be fed;
If with dewdrops, shed so newly
On the bright green clover blade;
Or, with roses plucked in July,
And with honey liquored?
O, no! O, no!
Let roses blow,
And dew-stars to green blade cling:
Other fare,
More light and rare,
Befits that gentlest Nursling.

Feed him with the sigh that rushes
'Twixt sweet lips, whose muteness speaks
With the eloquence that flushes
All a heart's wealth o'er soft cheeks;
Feed him with a world of blushes,
And the glance that shuns, yet seeks:
For 'tis with food,
So light and good,
That the Spirit child is fed;
And with the tear
Of joyous fear
That the small Elf's liquored.



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