Wednesday, 23 April 2008

  • Currently Reading
    Persuasion (Penguin Classics)
    By Jane Austen
    see related

    Oh, love, you do taunt me so.

    ~~~~~O Deceiving Man~~~~~

     ~O that the four corners of the globe and the heart's true song were each cloaked in the robes of youth,

    ~And dripping sweetly from thy tongue, O deceiving man, words of truth,

    ~Then soft as the morning dew might my heart be before you,

    ~And forever would we dance, and forever it is true, my heart would I move to forever be with you.

     

    ~Time beats its melody on the drums of change, grasping all in a perpetual song of melancholy,

    ~Then the bird's song doth cease, the grass be no longer green,

    ~So Princess Philomel is silenced to hide what she has seen,

    ~And from sea to shining sea are heard anguished cries of "Woe is me".

     

    ~The rose doth lose its lively sheen, and what of the beautiful fields of green?

    ~Come bitter winter, O cold death, to start anew, what once was green; embrace your deathly hue,

    ~Thy tongue, O deceiving man, is sweet, but thy heart be weak,

    ~Bright and lovely shines spring, but autumn, O terribly bleak.

     

    ~Your words, your gaze, your heavenly smile,

    ~Your touch, your smell, your going the extra mile,

    ~All too quickly these do turn,

    ~In the moment's darkness seem pure; in the light doth burn.

     

    ~Your broad shoulders and hair of gold,

    ~Your classic smile and mysteries untold,

    ~None of these will move to melt my stonily heart,

    ~Much rather I would for eternity be lonely and unknown.

     

    ~If only eternal this frailty called youth, and forever beating these wings of love in endless flight,

    ~O that merriment and delight had each no end in sight, and age? What a useless plight,

    ~Then inviting as the morning light might my heart be before you,

    ~And forever we would dance, and forever it is true, my would I move to forever be with you, O deceiving man.