Love

To the Unattainable

by Laurence Hope 1865–1904

From India's Love Lyrics (The Garden of Kama, 1901)

Love

I would have taken Golden Stars from the sky for your necklace,
I would have shaken rose-leaves for your rest from all the rose-trees.

But you had no need; the short sweet grass sufficed for your slumber,
And you took no heed of such trifles as gold or a necklace.

There is an hour, at twilight, too heavy with memory.
There is a flower that I fear, for your hair had its fragrance.

I would have squandered Youth for you, and its hope and its promise,
Before you wandered, careless, away from my useless passion.

But what is the use of my speech, since I know of no words to recall you?
I am praying that Time may teach, you, your Cruelty, me, Forgetfulness.

MLA

Hope, Laurence. “To the Unattainable.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/hope/11/.

Chicago

Hope, Laurence. “To the Unattainable.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/hope/11/.

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