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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
YLETTE AND YVONNE, by WILSON PUGSLEY MACDONALD Poet's Biography First Line: Ylette was born the same day as yvonne Last Line: Knew there are earthly joys an angel misses. Subject(s): Twins | |||
Ylette and Yvonne were twins who dwelt in a cottage near Cadboro Beach, Victoria, British Columbia. What one would do the other always would do; if one wept the other wept, if one laughed the other laughed. I often talked to them as they played on the shore, and one day Ylette, who had dug a deep hole in the sand, remarked that she was digging the hole to free a lover who was imprisoned there. YLETTE was born the same day as Yvonne; And one is with us still and one is gone -- And which one was the lovelier none could say, For each was lovely in her own sweet way. And some would say Yvonne was fair and yet Less lovely than Ylette. And some would say Ylette was fair but shone Less clearly in her beauty than Yvonne. My garden was the place That seemed to suit their grace; And, if my bushes missed a rose, I knew Two roses less Would there unfold their flaming loveliness -- For it was true What one would do the other maid would do. And both at work and play What one would say the other maid would say: And no one ever saw them walk apart, For each was keeper of the other's heart. Along the sands I've traced their footsteps four Like dimples on the shore, And found each youthful gypsy with her hand Plunged in a well of sand, And watched them dig with ardor that they might Free some imprisoned lover from his plight; For every hidden place where they would look Was filled with faces from some fairy-book. And so the saying grew: "What one will do the other maid will do." And it was sweet to see The kinship of their movement's artistry, And, in this age when comradeship is rare, To hear their steps go rhyming up the stair. One day Yvonne brushed down A treasured plant for which I knew renown, And in the sudden moment of my wrath I drove her from my path. And as she went with eyes and spirit wet I saw the dear Ylette Run to her side and weep as though her heart Had all been torn apart: And then I learned the hasty words I'd sown Had hurt two buds far lovelier than my own. But God, who knew this saying to be true, "What one will do the other maid will do," Foresaw that hour and its attendant pain When both should love and one should love in vain -- And, fearing for the sorrow of that day, He took Yvonne away. To-night there was a storm, But, snug and warm, In folds of down was wrapped Ylette's fair form -- And as she slept Her mother crept And kissed her lips and eyes and hair, and wept; And, in her sleep, the child Reached out her arms and smiled. "What one will do the other maid will do": And it was true Yvonne reached out her arms in Heaven too, And hearing, in the depths below, those kisses, Knew there are earthly joys an angel misses. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE TWINS by HENRY SAMBROOKE LEIGH EYES AND EARS by WILLIAM HENRY DAVIES A PROBLEM by GEORGE PARMLY DAY SONG OF A WOMAN WITH TWINS by MYRTLE EBERSTEIN A TALE OF ELSINORE by WILLIAM MCGONAGALL THE TWINS by CHRISTOPHER DARLINGTON MORLEY A GYPSY SONG by WILSON PUGSLEY MACDONALD |
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