I know, alas, fair dame, that you May well deride this slender ditty, And laugh to scorn the rhymester who Now scorns to laugh, more is the pity! But Cupid treats me with disdain When in your neat suburban cottage; And so his favor I would gain By means of this small bit of pottage. I met you first at Madame Fine's And watched your dancing through the german. Your feet were lighter than her wines; You juggled with my heart like—Herrmann! You wore a flower coronet Whose blooms were dimmed by those below it; The blossoms crowned you queen, and yet You needed no such mark to show it. Your white arms were twin scepters such As no queen ever had save Venus; And could I once but feel their touch No monarch would dare come between us! And this, dear queen, is what I ask— Nor could a vassal wish be fairer— On bended knee I pray the task: Oh, let me be your scepter-bearer! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...VARIATIONS: 17 by CONRAD AIKEN GHOSTS OF A LUNATIC ASYLUM by STEPHEN VINCENT BENET THE JOBHOLDER by DAVID IGNATOW MATE (2) by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON MIDDLE-AGED; A STUDY IN EMOTION by EZRA POUND |