Love
Would You Know?
From Songs of a Savoyard (1920 Macmillan Bab Ballads edition)
Would you know the kind of maid
Sets my heart a flame-a?
Eyes must be downcast and staid,
Cheeks must flush for shame-a!
She may neither dance nor sing,
But, demure in everything,
Hang her head in modest way
With pouting lips that seem to say,
“Kiss me, kiss me, kiss me, kiss me,
Though I die of shame-a!”
Please you, that’s the kind of maid
Sets my heart a flame-a!
When a maid is bold and gay
With a tongue goes clang-a,
Flaunting it in brave array,
Maiden may go hang-a!
Sunflower gay and hollyhock
Never shall my garden stock;
Mine the blushing rose of May,
With pouting lips that seem to say
“Oh, kiss me, kiss me, kiss me, kiss me,
Though I die for shame-a!”
Please you, that’s the kind of maid
Sets my heart a flame-a!
Cite this poem
MLA
Gilbert, W. S. “Would You Know?” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/gilbert/37/.
Chicago
Gilbert, W. S. “Would You Know?” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/gilbert/37/.
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