Odi et Amo

I would have given you this flower or that,

Tears for your pleasure, roses for your grief,

Would bind my precious hair into a mat

Before your feet, or bring a silken leaf

To kiss your thirsty mouth away from dearth;

Would bind my thoughts into a summer sheaf

Of corn arisen from a barren earth

To nourish you forever; and would bend

This fire to sing contentment on your hearth.

This little pleading image of your friend,

This fabric knit and riveted for life,

I would have brought you, careless of the end;

A flare of laughter, and a fancy rife

With spirits to inform the silver breath;

' All this for love; for this ungentle strife

I shall find present ways to give you death.