Love

Testamentum Amoris

by Laurence Binyon 1869–1943

From Primavera (1890)

LoveThe Mind

I cannot raise my eyelids up from sleep,
But I am visited with thoughts of you;
Slumber has no refreshment half so deep
As the sweet morn, that wakes my heart anew.

I cannot put away life's trivial care,
But you straightway steal on me with delight:
My purest moments are your mirror fair;
My deepest thought finds you the truth most bright.

You are the lovely regent of my mind,
The constant sky to my unresting sea;
Yet, since 'tis you that rule me, I but find
A finer freedom in such tyranny.

Were the world's anxious kingdoms govern'd so,
Lost were their wrongs, and vanish'd half their woe!

✦ ✦ ✦

A love poem on being visited by thoughts of the beloved on waking and in every task: 'You are the lovely regent of my mind.'

MLA

Binyon, Laurence. “Testamentum Amoris.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/binyon/9/.

Chicago

Binyon, Laurence. “Testamentum Amoris.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/binyon/9/.

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