Love
Constancy
From Underneath the Bough (1898)
I love her with the seasons, with the winds,
As the stars worship, as anemones
Shudder in secret for the sun, as bees
Buzz round an open flower: in all kinds
My love is perfect, and in each she finds
Herself the goal; then why, intent to tease
And rob her delicate spirit of its ease
Hastes she to range me with inconstant minds?
If she should die, if I were left at large
On earth without her — I, on earth, the same
Quick mortal with a thousand cries, her spell
She fears would break. And I confront the charge.
As sorrowing, and as careless of my fame,
As Christ intact before the infidel.
Codex Note
The Third Book of Songs
Cite this poem
MLA
Field, Michael. “Constancy.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/field_m/95/.
Chicago
Field, Michael. “Constancy.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/field_m/95/.
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