| Poems by Women |
LOVE NOT
Love not, love not, ye hapless sons of clay!
Hope's gayest wreaths are
made of earthly flowers -
Things that are made to fade and fall away,
When
they have blossomed but a few short hours.
Love not, love not!
Love not, love not! The thing you love may die -
May perish from the
gay and gladsome earth;
The silent stars, the blue and smiling sky,
Beam
on its grave as once upon its birth.
Love not, love not!
Love not, love not! The thing you love may change,
The rosy lip may
cease to smile on you;
The kindly beaming eye grow cold and strange;
The
heart still warmly beat, yet not be true.
Love not, love not!
Love not, love not! O warning vainly said
In present years, as in
the years gone by!
Love flings a halo round the dear one's
head,
Faultless, immortal - till they change or die!
Love not, love
not!
Caroline Elizabeth Sarah Norton [1808-1877]
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) |
