How can the sweetness of a gentle mind Pall on thy spirit? say, it is not so; Her eyes are mournful and her sorrows flow, For that she fears her hands have fail'd to bind The tie of mutual wishes round thy heart; Thy faith was given, thy promise made a part Of the pure office which confirm'd her thine; Oh, do not thou annul that rite divine, Nor bid such promise swell the tinsel-mart Of empty shows, unmeaning types and vain - But teach thy wife to nurse her hopes again In love returning, never to depart; For nothing festers like a broken vow, Which wrecks another's peace and blights another's brow. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...RAIN AFTER A VAUDEVILLE SHOW by STEPHEN VINCENT BENET TO ONE IN BEDLAM by ERNEST CHRISTOPHER DOWSON THE BABIE by JEREMIAH EAMES RANKIN THE BROKEN FIELD by SARA TEASDALE TO THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE, IN NEW-ENGLAND by PHILLIS WHEATLEY THE BUILDERS OF THE ARK by MARIA ABDY |