Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, JENIFER'S LOVE, by ARTHUR THOMAS QUILLER-COUCH


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

JENIFER'S LOVE, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: Small is my secret - let it pass
Last Line: Above your bed, as I o'er mine?
Alternate Author Name(s): Q; Quiller-couch, A. T.
Subject(s): Love - Unrequited; Secrets; Social Classes; Caste


SMALL is my secret—let it pass—
Small in your life the share I had,
Who sat beside you in the class,
Awed by the bright superior lad:
Whom yet with hot and eager face
I prompted when he missed his place.

For you the call came swift and soon:—
But sometimes in your holidays
You met me trudging home at noon
To dinner through the dusty ways,
And recognized, and with a nod
Passed on, but never guessed—thank God!

Truly our ways were separate.
I bent myself to hoe and drill,
Yea, with an honest man to mate,
Fulfilling God Almighty's will;
And bore him children. But my prayers
Were yours—and, only after, theirs.

While you—still loftier, more remote,
You sprang from stair to stair of fame,
And you've a riband on your coat,
And you've a title to your name.
But have you yet a star to shine
Above your bed, as I o'er mine?





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