A Lover's Vows

John Clare 1793 (Helpston) – 1864 (St Andrew's Hospital)



Scenes of love and days of pleasure,
I must leave them all, lassie.
Scenes of love and hours of leisure,
All are gone for aye, lassie.
No more thy velvet-bordered dress
My fond and longing een shall bless,
Thou lily in the wilderness;
And who shall love thee then, lassie?
Long I've watched thy look so tender,
Often clasped thy waist so slender:
Heaven, in thine own love defend her,
God protect my own lassie.
  
By all the faith I've shown afore thee,
I'll swear by more than that, lassie:
By heaven and earth I'll still adore thee,
Though we should part for aye, lassie!
By thy infant years so loving,
By thy woman's love so moving,
That white breast thy goodness proving,
I'm thine for aye, through all, lassie!
By the sun that shines for ever,
By love's light and its own Giver,
Who loveth truth and leaveth never,
I'm thine for aye, through all, lassie!
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Submitted on August 03, 2020

Modified on March 05, 2023

49 sec read
13

Quick analysis:

Scheme ababccxbaaab bbbbdddBaaaB
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 837
Words 158
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 12, 12

John Clare

John Clare was an English poet in his time he was commonly known as the Northamptonshire Peasant Poet more…

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