George Henry Boker (1823-1890). I. "I do assure thee, love, each kiss of thine." Hunt and Lee, comps. 1867. The Book of the Sonnet

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Hunt and Lee, comps. The Book of the Sonnet. 1867.

I. “I do assure thee, love, each kiss of thine”

By George Henry Boker (1823–1890)


I DO 1 assure thee, love, each kiss of thine
Adds to my stature, makes me more a man,
Lightens my care, and draws the bitter wine
That I was drugged with, while my nature ran
Its slavish course. For didst not thou untwine	5
My cunning fetters? break the odious ban,
That quite debased me? free this heart of mine,
And deck my chains with roses? While I can
I ’ll chant thy praises, till the world shall ring
With thy great glory; and the heaping store	10
Of future honors, for the songs I sing,
Shall miss thy poet, at thy feet to pour
A juster tribute, as the gracious spring
Of my abundance.—Kiss me, then, once more.

Note 1. “Plays and Poems, by George H. Boker. Boston: Ticknor and Fields. 1856.”
The sonnets by Mr. Boker are replete with the beauty and harmony of poetic diction, and his love sonnets are almost Shakespearian in their delicacy and plaintiveness. See the Essay on American Sonnets, where five of his sonnets are already given. [back]

CONTENTS · BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD

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