Love

To One Who Said Me Nay

by Countee Cullen 1903–1946

From Color (1925)

Love

This much the gods vouchsafe today:
That we two lie in the clover,
Watching the heavens dip and sway,
With galleons sailing over.

This much is granted for an hour:
That we are young and tender,
That I am bee and you are flower,
Honey-mouthed and swaying slender.

This sweet of sweets is ours now:
To wander through the land,
Plucking an apple from its bough
To toss from hand to hand.

No thing is certain, joy nor sorrow,
Except the hour we know it;
Oh, wear my heart today; tomorrow
Who knows where the winds will blow it?

MLA

Cullen, Countee. “To One Who Said Me Nay.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/cullen/55/.

Chicago

Cullen, Countee. “To One Who Said Me Nay.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/cullen/55/.

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