Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


THE MAIDEN TO THE MOON by JOHN GODFREY SAXE

First Line: O MOON! DID YOU SEE
Last Line: WE ONLY BEHAVED LIKE YOUR LOVER AND YOU!
Subject(s): LOVE; MOON;

O MOON! did you see
My lover and me
In the valley beneath the sycamere-tree?
Whatever befell,
O Moon! don't tell;
'T was nothing amiss, you know very well.

O Moon! you know,
A long time ago
You left the sky and descended below,
Of a Summer's night,
By your own sweet light,
To meet your Endymion on Latmos height.

And there, O Moon!
You gave him a boon,
You would n't, I'm sure, have granted at noon;
'T was nothing amiss,
Being only the bliss
Of giving -- and taking -- an innocent kiss!

Some churlish lout,
Who was spying about,
Went off and blabbed, and so it got out;
But for all the gold
The sea could hold,
O Moon! I would n't have gone and told!

So, Moon! don't tell,
Whatever befell
My lover and me in the leafy dell;
He is honest and true,
And, remember, too,
We only behaved like your lover and you!



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