Classic Poem

Unworthy, yea,
So high thou art above me,
I do not dare to love thee,
But kneel and lay
All homage, and all worship at thy feet,
O Lady sweet.

Yet dreams are strong,
A wordless wish suffices
To win them Paradises
Of sun and song,
And joy our waking hours may never know
The dreams bestow.

And in a dream —
Dupe of its bold beguiling, —
I watch thy bright eyes smiling,
I see them gleam
With love the jealous daylight has forbidden,
And veiled and hidden.

O brave deceit,
In dreams thy glad eyes glisten,
In dreams I lie and listen,
Thy bosom-beat,
And hive my lips among thy temple-hair,
O Lady fair.

And if I live,
Dreaming in such fair fashion,
I think in thy compassion
Thou wilt forgive,
Because I only dream, and when I wake
My heart will break.