1 I HAVE been far, I have been near, I have been young and old, But one of your eyes is brown, my dear, And one is brown and gold. Your pretty points you still renew And alter from of old. For once I knew it brown and blue That now is brown and gold. Ten thousand dames and twenty-two Compete to take the crown, They cannot put their purpose through Against the gold and brown. Ten thousand dames and forty-four Unhappy can't unfold; The eye was brown and blue before And now is brown and gold. Ten thousand dames and fifty-five Alas! must all go down. For the shyest, kindest glance alive Shoots from the gold and brown. 2 My dear and fair, my kind and pretty, Why come and sue to me for praise? Why come and tease me for a ditty? Who are, yourself, my song of days? Yourself the goddess bright that lingers Anear -- and sings and sanctifies. The days go round between your fingers, And the house brightens with your eyes! Yourself the poem and the poet, My dear and fair, my bright and sweet, The days rhyme (though @3you@1 don't know it) And the season's chime, dear, with your feet! My bright light (and who could oppose you?), My inexhaustible fount of smiles, You are the tune that the whole world goes to And the brightness of the passing miles! The beauty and the song of water, The brightness and the blue of air -- I can be happy, my friend and daughter, So long as you are kind and fair. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...DINOSAUR NATIONAL by KAREN SWENSON BATTLE HYMN OF THE RUSSIAN REPUBLIC by LOUIS UNTERMEYER NAPOLEON by WALTER JOHN DE LA MARE IMAGES: 1 by RICHARD ALDINGTON PEARLS OF THE FAITH: 54. AL-KAWI by EDWIN ARNOLD |