I lift my heavy heart up solemnly,
As once Electra her sepulchral urn,
And, looking in thine eyes, I overturn
The ashes at thy feet. Behold and see
What a great heap of grief lay hid in me,
And how the red wild sparkles dimly burn
Through the ashen greyness. If thy foot in scorn
Could tread them out to darkness utterly,
It might be well perhaps. But if instead
Thou wait beside me for the wind to blow
The grey dust up, . . those laurels on thine head,
O My beloved, will not shield thee so,
That none of all the fires shall scorch and shred
The hair beneath. Stand further off then! Go.
You glow in my heart
Like the flames of uncounted candles.
But when I go to warm my hands,
My clumsiness overturns the light
And then I stumble
Against the tables and chairs.
Blue is Our Lady's colour,
...White is Our Lord's.
To-morrow I will wear a knot
...Of blue and white cords,
That you may see it, where you ride
...Among the flashing swords.
O banner, white and sunny blue,
...With prayer I wove thee!
For love the white, for faith the heavenly hue,
And both for him, so tender-true,
...Him that doth love me!
She tell her love while half asleep,
In the dark hours,
With half-words whispered low:
As Earth stirs in her winter sleep
And puts out grass and flowers
Despite the snow,
Despite the falling snow.
It's all I have to bring to-day,
This, and my heart beside,
This, and my heart, and all the fields,
And all the meadows wide.
Be sure you count, should I forget, --
Someone the sum could tell, --
This, and my heart, and all the bees
Which in the clover dwell
All things uncomely and broken,
all things worn-out and old,
The cry of a child by the roadway,
the creak of a lumbering cart,
The heavy steps of the ploughman,
splashing the wintry mould,
Are wronging your image that blossoms
a rose in the deeps of my heart.
The wrong of unshapely things
is a wrong too great to be told;
I hunger to build them anew
and sit on a green knoll apart,
With the earth and the sky and the water,
remade, like a casket of gold
For my dreams of your image that blossoms
a rose in the deeps of my heart.
One day I wrote her name upon the strand,
But came the waves and washed it away:
Again I wrote it with a second hand,
But came the tide and made my pains his prey.
"Vain man," said she, "that dost in vain essay
A mortal thing so to immortalize;
For I myself shall like to this decay,
And eke my name be wiped out likewise."
"Not so," quoth I; "let baser things devise
To lie in dust, but you shall live by fame;
My verse your virtues rare shall eternize,
And in the heavens write you glorious name:
Where, whenas Death shall all the world subdue,
Our love shall live, and later life renew."
Love not me for comely grace,
For my pleasing eye or face,
Nor for any outward part:
No, nor for a constant heart!
For these may fail or turn to ill:
Should thou and I sever.
Keep, therefore, a true woman's eye,
And love me still, but know not why!
So hast thou the same reason still
To dote upon me ever.
Mild is the parting year and sweet
The odour of the falling spray;
Life passes on more rudely fleet,
And balmless is its closing day.
I wait its close, I court its gloom,
But mourn that never must there fall;
Or on my breast or on my tomb
The tear that would have soothed it all.
I woke up one morning,
When I heard my baby cry.
Looking in the mirror,
She found a wrinkle by her eye.
She said, "Will you still love me
When my beauty slips away?"
And as I took her in my arms,
This was what I had to say.
I will always love you.
That will never end.
When we're old and gray,
YouÂ’ll still be my best friend.
With you I'd share each moment,
For the rest of my life.
I will be your husband,
If you will be my wife.
She gave me a daughter,
The apple of my eye.
We raised her together,
As the years flew quickly by.
And on our girl's wedding day,
My baby cried a tear.
When I put my arm around her
And whispered in her ear.
I will always love you.
That will never end.
When we're old and gray,
YouÂ’ll still be my best friend.
I wouldn't trade these moments
For any other life.
That's why I'm your husband,
ThatÂ’s why you're my wife.
As the years overtook us,
My life began to fade.
And last night, at my bedside,
She asked me why I stayed.
I took her by the hand,
And held it for a while.
Then breathing my last breath
I told her with a smile.
I will always love you.
That will never end.
Now we're old and gray
And you're still my best friend.
With you, I've shared each moment,
The best years of my life.
I'm glad I was your husband,
I'm proud you were my wife.
It's two am, you're still on my mind
These sleepless nights leave me behind
So I sit here waiting for dawn to come
Thinking of the amazing things you've done
I know things haven't been good for a while
I've shouted at you, taken away your soft smile
Taking all my anger and problems out on you
I've felt so bad I haven't known what to do
Yet you took it all, didn't even retaliate
Even when my head filled with anger and hate
You stood there for me, right by my side
You told me that I no longer had to hide
Even when I made up excuses to fight
You understood, helped me to see the light
You had faith in me when others walked away
You have stayed by me every single day
Even when I told you to leave me alone
You sat close to me, making your care known
You listened to all my words of pain
You promised me the future wouldn't be the same
This week has been full of tears and strain
I've been so tied up in my problems and pain
I don't think I've told you enough how I feel
How I live for you and my love is still real
How you're the one and I still know this is true
How if you left me now, I wouldn't know what to do
Looking in your eyes, I know you're the one
I still know that together is where we belong
You make me feel safe; I've never felt that before
When you touch me I can feel your love so pure
I swear you're an angel sent from above
You stand by me and show me your love
You're the one I want, nobody else comes near
The thought of losing you fills my heart with fear
You're my first love and I know you'll be my last
I could never leave our love in the past
We have something so very special and rare
Plus a future filled with love and care
I'll stand by you whereever we will go
All of this I wanted you to know
I'm sorry for taking everything out on you
You're the only thing that's helped me pull through
Thankyou so much for all that you have done
I won't give up on us now...we've only just begun