| Poems by Women |
A MARRIAGE CHARM
I set a charm upon your hurrying breath,
I set a charm upon your wandering
feet,
You shall not leave me - not for life, nor death,
Not even though
you cease to love me, Sweet.
A woman's love nine Angels cannot bind,
Nor any rune that wind or water
knows,
My heart were all as well set on the wind,
Or bound, to live or
die, upon a rose.
I set a charm upon you, foot and hand,
That you and Knowledge, love, may
never meet,
That you may never chance to understand
How strong you are,
how weak your lover, Sweet.
I set my charm upon your kindly arm,
I set it as a seal upon your
breast;
That you may never hear another's charm,
Nor guess another's gift
outruns my best.
I bid your wandering footsteps me to follow,
Your thoughts to travel after
in my track,
I am the sky that waits you, dear gray swallow,
No wind of
mine shall ever blow you back.
I am your dream, Sweet; so no more of dreaming,
Your lips to mine must end
this chanted charm,
Your heart to mine, 'neath nut-brown tresses
streaming,
I set my love a seal upon your arm.
Nora Hopper [1871-1906]
From: Stevenson, Burton Egbert.
The Home Book of Verse.
This poet:
[Author index]
This collection assembled by Jone Johnson Lewis.
Collection © 1999-2002 Jone Johnson Lewis.
Citing poems from these pages:
| Author. "Poem Title." Women's History: Poems by Women. Jone Johnson Lewis, editor. URL: (date of logon) |
