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A Vow

By hope and fear, by grief and joy opprest,
With deadly hate, more deadly love infected;
Without, within, in body, soul, distrest;
Little by all, least by my self respected,
But most, most there, where most I lov'd, neglected;
Hated, and hating life, to death I call;
Who scorns to take what is refus'd by all.

Whither, ah, whither then wilt thou betake thee,
Despised wretch, of friends, of all forlorn,
Since hope, and love, and life, and death forsake thee?
Poore soul, thy own tormenter, others scorn!

Love-Time Is Summer-Time

" I wandered forth alone, " sang she,
" When summer flowers were young,
And birds made merry songs for me,
The summer woods among;
And gaily, gaily danced the rill,
And balmy was the air: —
But there was something failed me still,
Though all the land was fair.

" The blossoms all are dead, " she sings,
" That graced the summer-time;
And summer birds have spread their wings,
To seek a softer clime.
The wintry sky is dark above;
The silent woods are bare: —
But thou art near me, oh, my love,

Except the love of moonfaced maids, This heart of mine a way takes not

Except the love of moonfaced maids, This heart of mine a way takes not;
I counsel this and that; but it Advice, say what I may, takes not.

For Heaven's sake, admonisher, Bespeak me of the skinker's down;
For goodlier effect on me Whatever thou canst say takes not.

The wineflask hid with me I bear And folk suppose it is the Book:
Strange if the fire of this my fraud The Book itself some day takes not!

This particoloured gaberdine Some day I sure shall burn; since it
The Elder of the Winesellers For one poor cup in pay takes not.

Love at First Sight

Not long ago I fell in love,
But unreturned is my affection —
The girl that I'm enamored of
Pays little heed in my direction.

I thought I knew her fairly well:
In fact, I'd had my arm around her;
And so it's hard to have to tell
How unresponsive I have found her.

For, though she is not frankly rude,
Her manners quite the wrong way rub me:
It seems to me ingratitude
To let me love her — and then snub me!

Though I'm considerate and fond,
She shows no gladness when she spies me —
She gazes off somewhere beyond

Two Loves

If, loving you, I sometimes seem as sad
Or dull, or tinged with hint of sober mood,
It is because I feel my life renewed
Having your love; and still my treasures add
As misers do; and what of woe I've had
No more with its gaunt shadows may intrude;
Thus silence fills the happy interlude
While I sit wordless, worshiping, and glad.

A boy's love and a man's love intertwined
I give to you to govern all the time,
Whether it run to reason or to rhyme.
The passion and the purity combined;