MY Dearling! -- thus, in days long fled, In spite of creed and court and queen, King Henry wrote to Anne Boleyn, -- The dearest pet name ever said, And dearly purchased, too, I ween! Poor child! she played a losing game: She won a hart, -- so Henry said, -- But, ah, the price she gave instead! Men's hearts, at best, are but a name: She paid for Henry's with her head! You count men's hearts as something worth? Not I: were I a maid unwed, I'd rather have my own fair head Than all the lovers on the earth, Than all the hearts that ever bled! "My Dearling!" with a love most true, Having no fear of creed or queen, I breathe that name my prayers between; But it shall never bring to you The hapless fate of Anne Boleyn! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE LITANY: 10. THE MARTYRS by JOHN DONNE HAIL COLUMBIA by JOSEPH HOPKINSON ONE SHORT HOUR by RICHARD CHENEVIX TRENCH THE HOSTING OF THE SIDHE by WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS CLIO, NINE ECLOGUES IN HONOUR OF NINE VIRTUES: DEDICATION TO R. WENMAN by WILLIAM BASSE ON THE LOSS OF PROFESSOR FISHER by JOHN GARDINER CALKINS BRAINARD |