Love's Birth

Love's Birth written by William Henry Davies

Nature Poems (1908)

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I heard a voice methought was sweet;
Skylark, I mused, thy praise is done;
That voice I'd rather hear than thine
With twenty songs in one.

And she, in sooth, is fair, thought I,
Looking at her with cold, calm eyes -
As the Lily at May's feet, or Rose
That on June's bosom lies.

I heard one day a step; a voice,
Heard in a room next door to mine;
And then, I heard long, laughing peals,
For him! from Rosaline.

Again she laughs; what, mocking me?
I shook like coward in the night -
Who fears to either lie in dark
Or rise to make a light.

For weeks I cursed the day I met
That fair sleep-robber, Rosaline;
Till Love came pure from smoke and flame -
I swore she should be mine.

And in her house I held her firm,
She closed her eyes and lay at rest;
But still she laughed, as if a bird
Should sing in its warm nest.

This work is in the public domain in countries where the copyright term is the author's life plus 70 years or less.