O I would I had a lover! A lover! a lover! O I would I had a lover With a twinkering guitar, To come beneath my casement Singing "There is none above her," While I, leaning, seemed to hover In the scent of his cigar! Then at morn I'd want to meet him -- To meet him! to meet him! O at morn I'd want to meet him, When the mist was in the sky, And the dew along the path I went To casually greet him, And to cavalierly treat him, And regret it by and by. And I'd want to meet his brother -- His brother! his brother! O I'd want to meet his brother At the german or the play, To pin a rose on his lapel And lightly press the other, And love him like a mother -- While he thought the other way. O I'd pitilessly test him! And test him! and test him! O I'd pitilessly test him Far beyond his own control; And every tantalizing lure With which I could arrest him, I'd loosen to molest him, Till I tried his very soul. But ah, when I relented! Relented, relented! But ah, when I relented -- When the stars were blurred and dim, And the moon above, with crescent grace, Looked off as I repented, And with rapture half demented, All my heart went out to him! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...BABY MAY by WILLIAM COX BENNETT OFF THE GROUND by WALTER JOHN DE LA MARE OLD BLACK MEN by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON DOCTOR FELL by MARCUS VALERIUS MARTIALIS LOVE AND TIME by WALTER RALEIGH BEAUTIFUL WOMEN by WALT WHITMAN DOVE RIVER ANTHOLOGY, BY OWN WILLIAM WORDSWORTH: LUCY GRAY by FRANKLIN PIERCE ADAMS |