WHAT will you give me, if I will wed? "A golden gown To come sweetly down, And deck you from foot to head." How will you keep me, if I am cold? "By a heart so warm, The bravest storm Dare not force through my strong hands' hold." How will you please me, if I should thirst? "Why by the rape Of the purple grape, Which the summer and sun have nursed." If I should hunger what may I eat? "For you the skies The falcon flies, And the hounds on the stag are fleet." How can you comfort when fair youth dies, When the spirit's fain For a purer gain, Than the satisfied flesh supplies? "But this I promise, when starved and cold A lonely soul Finds for its goal A six-foot bed and churchyard mould." | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...ENGLAND AND AMERICA: 1. ON A RHINE STEAMER by JAMES KENNETH STEPHEN STARTING FROM PAUMANOK by WALT WHITMAN COWBOY VERSUS BRONCHO by JAMES BARTON ADAMS PEARLS OF THE FAITH: 65. AL-WAJID by EDWIN ARNOLD PEARLS OF THE FAITH: 72, 73, 74, 75. AWWAL, AKHIR, THAHIR, BATIN by EDWIN ARNOLD |