Robert Frost (1874–1963). A Boy’s Will. 1915.
4. Love and a Question
A
And he spoke the bridegroom fair.
He bore a green-white stick in his hand,
And, for all burden, care.
He asked with the eyes more than the lips
For a shelter for the night,
And he turned and looked at the road afar
Without a window light.
With, ‘Let us look at the sky,
And question what of the night to be,
Stranger, you and I.’
The woodbine leaves littered the yard,
The woodbine berries were blue,
Autumn, yes, winter was in the wind;
’Stranger, I wish I knew.’
Bent over the open fire,
Her face rose-red with the glowing coal
And the thought of the heart’s desire.
Yet saw but her within,
And wished her heart in a case of gold
And pinned with a silver pin.
A dole of bread, a purse,
A heartfelt prayer for the poor of God,
Or for the rich a curse;
To mar the love of two
By harboring woe in the bridal house,
The bridegroom wished he knew.