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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


THE SUMMER WOMAN by WILLIAM SHARP

First Line: O WILD BEE HUMMING IN THE GORSE
Last Line: WILD BEES, WILD BEES, COME BACK AGAIN!
Subject(s): EYES; SUMMER; TEARS; VOICES; WOMEN;

O wild bee humming in the gorse,
O wild dove croodling in the woods,
Know ye not she is false as fair,
A sweet Caprice with bitter moods?

For bitter-sweet her wild kiss is,
And bitter-sweet her haunting voice:
How oft my eyes have filled with tears
When she hath bid me to rejoice!

O loved Caprice, is thine the fault
Or is the bitterness all mine!
Art thou the quenchless Thirst of Joy
And I the lees of thy spilt wine?

Oh, greenness, greenness everywhere,
Oh, whisper of green leaves, green grass,
Surely the glory is not gone,
Surely the glory shall not pass?

I long for some lost magic thing,
A voice; a gleam, a joy, a pain:
Wild doves, your old-time strain once more,
Wild bees, wild bees, come back again!



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