Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, YES!, by GEORGE HENRY JESSOP



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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

YES!, by                    
First Line: Is it true?' - that's the doubtful suggestion
Last Line: I can't give you up.
Subject(s): Bohemians; Love


"Is it true?" -- that's the doubtful suggestion
I've made to myself ever since;
Did I misinterpret your question?
Is joy, then, so hard to convince?
"Is it true?" For my part, yes, completely,
And, if I may answer for you,
I'll add it is wondrously, sweetly,
Entrancingly true.

Oh, dear, if I make a confession,
You'll admit you have tempted it forth;
If I own you have long had possession,
You'll not deem the prize of less worth?
If I say that a lifetime of pleasure
Last evening was brimmed in my cup,
And that you poured the liberal measure,
You won't give me up?

Ere ever I saw you I knew you,
I watched for your song and your jest,
And fancy in bright colors drew you
My hero, my Bayard, my best.
Nor was it mere fancy anointed
Yourself as my bosom's high priest;
When we met I was not disappointed --
No, love, not the least.

Last night! -- and I'm owning already
The secrets of nearly a year.
They tell me you're fast, scarcely steady,
In short, a Bohemian, dear.
Well, those are not faults that need hurt you;
They'll do to pair off with my own --
You have all a bohemian's virtue,
The rest I condone.

But I -- how was I ever worthy
Of winning so precious a prize?
My thoughts, dear, are of the earth, earthy,
While yours soar away to the skies.
If all that you hint at were real, --
The jest, the despite, and the fleer,
The world could not dim my ideal,
Nor make you less dear.

So, darling, though you are above me
In intellect, knowledge, and worth,
Sufficient for me that you love me, --
I'll follow you over the earth.
Sufficient for me that you deem me a
Soul not unworthy to sup
The joys of your wondrous Bohemia --
I can't give you up.





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