Guest poem sent in by Louise Archer
(Poem #439) A Shropshire Lad - XV Look not in my eyes, for fear They mirror true the sight I see, And there you find your face too clear And love it and be lost like me. One the long nights through must lie Spent in star-defeated sighs, But why should you as well as I Perish? gaze not in my eyes. A Grecian lad, as I hear tell, One that many loved in vain, Looked into a forest well And never looked away again. There, when the turf in springtime flowers, With downward eye and gazes sad, Stands amid the glancing showers A jonquil, not a Grecian lad. |
I love this poem. Not just for the content, but also for the "feel" of the words. It flows so beautifully and is vaguely sinister. There is a distinct shift in tone from line 8 to line 9, where he moves into the explanation of the poem - where we learn that it is about self-love. I have been to the house in Hampstead, UK, where Housman wrote A Shropshire Lad, and I have to say if anywhere could inpspire poetry in someone, it is there! As to further suggestions for content - well, anything by Housman!!! Louise
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