Having a 'poetic' conversation

 

“Neveruse the word 'audience.' The very idea of a public, unless the poet is writingfor money, seems wrong to me.  Poetsdon't have an 'audience'.  They'retalking to a single person all the time.” – Robert Graves

Born in England on July 24, 1895Graves was a poet, historical novelist, critic, and classicist who publishednearly 60 volumes of poetry and dozens of other writings in all genres.  Among his 120-plus total volumes was aworld-renowned novel I, Claudius, and a historical memoir on WWII, GoodbyeTo All That. 

 

Graves’s sad love poems have beenlauded by critics and fellow writers as among the finest produced in the Englishlanguage during the 20th Century.  ForSaturday’s Poem, here is Graves’,

 

   A Lover Since Childhood

 

  Tangled in thought am I,
   Stumble in speech do I?
   Do I blunder and blush for the reasonwhy?
   Wander aloof do I,
   Lean over gates and sigh,
   Making friends with the bee and thebutterfly?

    If thus and thus I do,
    Dazed by the thought of you,
    Walking my sorrowful way in the early dew,
    My heart cut through and through
    In this despair of you,
    Starved for a word or a look will my hope renew:

    give then a thought for me
    Walking so miserably,
    Wanting relief in the friendship of flower or tree;
    Do but remember, we
    Once could in love agree,
    Swallow your pride, let us be as we used to be.

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