| T. R. Smith, comp. Poetica Erotica: Rare and Curious Amatory Verse. 1921–22. | | | | The Betrothal | | By Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892–1950) |
| | (From The Harp-Weaver: and Other Poems, 1920) |
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OH, come, my lad, or go, my lad, | |
| And love me if you like. | |
| I shall not hear the door shut | |
| Nor the knocker strike. | |
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| Oh, bring me gifts or beg me gifts, | 5 |
| And wed me if you will. | |
| I’d make a man a good wife, | |
| Sensible and still. | |
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| And why should I be cold, my lad, | |
| And why should you repine, | 10 |
| Because I love a dark head | |
| That never will be mine? | |
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| I might as well be easing you | |
| As lie alone in bed | |
| And waste the night in wanting | 15 |
| A cruel dark head. | |
| |
| You might as well be calling yours | |
| What never will be his, | |
| And one of us be happy. | |
| There’s few enough as is. | 20 | | |
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