[Poems by Willis in] The rubric of love containing love thoughts by many contributors ; being a republication of "The album of Love." |
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 | [Poems by Willis in] The rubric of love |  |
8
SLIGHTED LOVE
MAY slighted woman turn,AND as a vine the oak hath shaken off,
Bend lightly to her tendencies again?
Oh, no! by all her loveliness, by all
That makes life poetry and beauty, no!
Make her a slave, steal from her rosy cheek
By needless jealousies; let the last star
Leave her a watcher by your couch of pain;
Wrong her by petulance, suspicion, all
That makes her cup a bitterness—yet give
One evidence of love, and earth has not
An emblem of devotedness like hers.
But, oh! estrange her once, it boots not how,
By wrong or silence, any thing that tells
A change has come upon your tenderness,
And there is not one high thing out of heaven
Her pride o'ermastereth not!
2
The Album of Love
OH! man may bear with suffering: his heartIs a strong thing, and godlike in the grasp
Of pain that wrings mortality; but tear
One chord affection clings to, part one tie
That binds him unto woman's delicate love,
And his great spirit yieldeth like a reed.
| [Poems by Willis in] The rubric of love | |