I LOVE my lover; on the heights above me He mocks my poor attainment with a frown. I, looking up as he is looking down, By his displeasure guess he still doth love me; For his ambitious love would ever prove me More excellent than I as yet am shown: So, straining for some good ungrasped, unknown, I vainly would become his image of me. And, reaching through the dreadful gulfs that sever Our souls, I strive with darkness nights and days, Till my perfected work tow'rds him I raise, Who laughs thereat, and scorns me more than ever; Yet his upbraiding is beyond all praise. This lover that I love I call: Endeavour. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE DARK-EYED GENTLEMAN by THOMAS HARDY IN HOSPITAL: 3. INTERIOR by WILLIAM ERNEST HENLEY SONNET: THE EVENING STAR by HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW TO A BLOCKHEAD by ALEXANDER POPE ROBERT BURNS by WILLIAM ALEXANDER (1567-1640) THE EXILE by LAWRENCE ALMA-TADEMA NOVEMBER 4TH, 1937 by LEONARD BACON (1887-1954) CLIO, NINE ECLOGUES IN HONOUR OF NINE VIRTUES: DEDICATION TO R. WENMAN by WILLIAM BASSE FRAGMENTS INTENDED FOR DEATH'S JEST-BOOK: SACRIFICE SELF-COMPENSATED by THOMAS LOVELL BEDDOES |