by Lizette Woodworth Reese (1856 - 1935)

Before the look of you
Language: English 
I fear you, Loveliness;
Before the look of you,
Your far yet intimate face,
My song crumbles in two.

Less am I than a tower;
Or a pool's thin, wrecked gold;
Or great bells loose at dusk;
Or a shepherd and a fold;

Or a few violets —
That straggle April-clear,
Within a tumbled wood
At ending of the year.

Yet spend me at your will;
Yet spend me low and high,
Though I am naught at all;
For if you go, I die!

Confirmed with Lizette Woodworth Reese, Wild Cherry, Baltimore, Md: The Norman, Remington Co, 1923.


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Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2022-01-22
Line count: 16
Word count: 84