THIS votive pledge of fond esteem, Perhaps, dear girl! for me thou 'lt prize; It sings of Love's enchanting dream, A theme we never can despise. Who blames it but the envious fool, The old and disappointed maid; Or pupil of the prudish school, In single sorrow doom'd to fade? Then read, dear girl! with feeling read, For thou wilt ne'er be one of those; To thee in vain I shall not plead In pity for the poet's woes. He was in sooth a genuine bard, His was no faint fictitious flame; Like his, may love be thy reward, But not thy hapless fate the same. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE LEAVES OF THE TREE HIDE THE SUN by DAVID IGNATOW DOWN BY THE CARIB SEA: 3. TEESTAY by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON THE SEASONS by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON DEDICATION OF THE FIRST SONNETS TO A FRIEND ... by GEORGE SANTAYANA LENNIE SWENSON by KAREN SWENSON |