ONE thing I know not,—what, O little maiden, What art thou thinking in thy reverie? One thing I know,—Life would be all joyladen If that fair brow, with its brown hair unbraiden, Were thinking, thinking—of thyself and me! One thing I know not,—maiden, dost thou love me, Although thou dost not speak? One thing I know,—whether thou hate or love me, May Heaven hold her buckler all above thee, As she hath set her beauty on thy cheek! One thing I know not, yet I keep surmising,— What lies before us in the shrouded years? One thing I know,—like some strong hand baptising Gently on infant's brow,—may God's palm rising Shed on thee love, ay, though in shape of tears! Tears? Were not baptism but the tears of Heaven Signed on a mortal face in Love's fond pain? Oh, if from out thy heart such tears be riven, Let my heart lie beneath them, and be shriven And signed as thine, by that most gentle rain! One thing I know not,—what, O little maiden, What art thou dreaming in thy reverie? One thing I know,—I would, O little maiden, That leaning brow wherewith thy palm is laden Leant on my heart and mixt its dream with me! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...YOU KNOW WHAT PEOPLE SAY by JAMES GALVIN PRIDE by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON TO RICHARD R. WRIGHT - INSTRUCTOR by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON CHAMBER MUSIC: 11 by JAMES JOYCE CRITIC AND POET by EMMA LAZARUS FLUTE-PRIEST SONG FOR RAIN; CEREMONIAL AT THE SUN SPRING by AMY LOWELL |