"WHY, O Dove, art thou so joyless?" How can I, poor Dove, be joyous? Late last night my mate was with me. My mate was with me, on one wing she slept, Slept on one wing, embraced me with the other, With the other embraced me, calling me her dear one. "Dear beloved one! Dovelet blue! Sleep, yet do not sleep, my dovelet, Only do not, sleeping, lose me, darling." The Dove awoke, his mate was gone! Hither, thither, he flung himself, dashed himself, Hither, thither, in homes of nobles, Homes of nobles, princes, merchants. In a merchant's garden did I find my Dove, In a merchant's garden, underneath an apple-tree; Underneath an apple-tree, wounded sore with shot! The merchant's son had wounded my Dove, Wounded her with a weapon of gold. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE RETURN (1) by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON A WINTER'S NIGHT by ROBERT FROST MEMORY by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON SHALL I SAY by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON DOWN BY THE CARIB SEA: 3. TEESTAY by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON THE TEMPTRESS by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON |