Love
The Way That Lovers Use
From The Collected Poems of Rupert Brooke (1915)
The way that lovers use is this;
They bow, catch hands, with never a word,
And their lips meet, and they do kiss,
-- So I have heard.
They queerly find some healing so,
And strange attainment in the touch;
There is a secret lovers know,
-- I have read as much.
And theirs no longer joy nor smart,
Changing or ending, night or day;
But mouth to mouth, and heart on heart,
-- So lovers say.
Codex Note
Fourteen lines on how lovers behave, as the speaker has heard: they bow, catch hands, and kiss. The refrain 'So lovers say' undercuts its own authority.
Cite this poem
MLA
Brooke, Rupert. “The Way That Lovers Use.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/brooke/19/.
Chicago
Brooke, Rupert. “The Way That Lovers Use.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/brooke/19/.
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