The New Faber Book of

Edited by JAMES FENTON

ft'faber and faber

CONTENTS

Love Poetry: An Introduction, xxv

FLEUR ADCOCK

Coupling, 3Incident, 3Happy Ending, 4Accidental, 4Send-off, 5

AMERICAN FOLK SONGS

Cripple Creek, 6Down in the Valley, 6Frankie and Albert, 7Shady Grove, 11Shenandoah, 12

KINGSLEY AMIS

An Ever-Fixed Mark, 14

ANONYMOUS'Western wind, when wilt thou blow', 15'Like to a ring without a finger', 15'The man that hath a handsome wife', 17The Unquiet Grave, 18

SIMON ARMITAGE

Somewhere Along the Line, 20

MATTHEW ARNOLD

The Forsaken Merman, 21

[v]

A Modern Sappho, 25Meeting, 26Dover Beach, 27

w. H. AUDEN

'You were a great Cunarder, I', 29'Seen when nights are silent', 29As I Walked Out One Evening, 29'O lurcher-loving collier, black as night', 31'Dear, though the night is gone', 3 2'Underneath an abject willow', 3 2'Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone', 3 3'Some say that love's a little boy', 34Lullaby, 36Heavy Date, 37Law Like Love, 40Lady Weeping at the Crossroads, 42The More Loving One, 43

RICHARD BARNFIELD

To His Friend Master R. L., in Praise of Music andPoetry, 45

APHRA BEHNThe Defiance, 46

HILAIRE BELLOC

Juliet, 47

JOHN BETJEMAN ;

Pot Pourri from a Surrey Garden, 48Myfanwy, 49A Subaltern's Love-Song, 50In a Bath Teashop, 51Indoor Games near Newbury, 5 2The Licorice Fields at Pontefract, 53

[vi]

ELIZABETH BISHOPfrom Songs for a Colored Singer, 5 5

I: 'A washing hangs upon the line', 5 5II: 'The time has come to call a halt', 56

Insomnia, 57Argument, 57The Shampoo, 5 8It is Marvellous, 59Close, Close All Night, 60Breakfast Song, 60

WILLIAM BLAKE

Song ('How sweet I roam'd from field to field'), 62Thel's Motto, 62The Little Black Boy, 62The Clod & the Pebble, 63The Sick Rose, 64The Garden of Love, 64'I laid me down upon a bank', 65'I asked a thief to steal me a peach', 65How to Know Love from Deceit, 65An Ancient Proverb, 66'Naught loves another as itself, 66Merlins Prophecy, 67'Abstinence sows sand all over', 67Several Questions Answerd, 67'When a Man has Married a Wife', 68'Grown old in Love from Seven till Seven times Seven', 68'A Woman Scaly & a Man all Hairy', 68The Smile, 68The Golden Net, 69The Crystal Cabinet, 70William Bond, 71'The Angel that presided oer my birth', 73

[vii]

ANNE BRADSTREET

To My Dear and Loving Husband, 74

GEORGE MACKAY BROWN

Fiddler's Song, 75

STERLING A. BROWN

Long Gone, 76Georgie Grimes, 77Rent Day Blues, 77

ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING

'How do I love thee?', 79

ROBERT BROWNING

The Lost Mistress, 80Meeting at Night, 81Love Among the Ruins, 81Any Wife to Any Husband, 84Love in a Life, 89The Last Ride Together, 90Two in the Campagna, 94Bad Dreams I, 96Inapprehensiveness, 97

ROBERT BURNS

It Was Upon a Lammas Night, 98Green Grow the Rashes. A Fragment, 99The Ranting Dog the Daddie O't, 100Auld Lang Syne, 101Afton Water, 102Tibbie Dunbar, 103The Taylor Fell Thro' the Bed, 103Lassie Lie Near Me, 104My Love She's But a Lassie Yet, 104

[viii]

Ae Fond Kiss, 105Oh Whistle and I'll Come to Ye, My Lad, 106A Red, Red Rose, 106Wantonness, 107

GEORGE GORDON, LORD BYRON

To a Youthful Friend, 108Remember Thee, Remember Thee!, 111She Walks in Beauty, 112Endorsement to the Deed of Separation, in the April of

1816, 112

'So, we'll go no more a roving', 113

THOMAS CAMPION

'Follow thy fair sun, unhappy shadow', 114'When to her lute Corinna sings', 114'Turn back, you wanton flyer', 115'It fell on a summers day', 116'Your fair looks enflame my desire', 116'Hark, all you ladies that do sleep', 117'Tune thy Music to thy heart', 118'The peaceful western wind', 119'A secret love or two, I must confess', 120'Thrice toss these Oaken ashes in the air', 121

THOMAS CAREW

Song: Mediocrity in Love Rejected, 122Song: To My Inconstant Mistress, 122Disdain Returned, 123To a Lady that Desired I Would Love Her, 123A Song, 125

WILLIAM CARTWRIGHT

No Platonique Love, 126

[ix]

JOHN CLARE

The Milking Hour, 127Song ('I hid my love when young while I'), 128How Can I Forget, 129

SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE

'Tho' hid in spiral myrtle Wreath', 130

PADRAIC COLUM

She Moved Through the Fair, 131

WENDY COPE

My Lover, 132Flowers, 134Defining the Problem, 135The Aerial, 135The Orange, 135As Sweet, 136

NOEL COWARD

I am No Good at Love, 137Any Little Fish, 138Mad About the Boy, 139Let's Do It, 143

HART CRANE

Episode of Hands, 146

EMILY DICKINSON

'So bashful when I spied her!', 147'Her breast is fit for pearls', 147'The rose did caper on her cheek', 147'You love me - you are sure', 148'Dying! Dying in the night!', 149'What shall I do - it whimpers so', 149'Wild nights - Wild nights!', 150

'Going to Him! Happy letter!', 150'Ourselves we wed one summer - dear', 151'Precious to Me - She still shall be', 152

JOHN DONNE

The Bait, 153The Broken Heart, 154The Canonization, 155The Ecstasy, 156A Fever, 158The Flea, 159The Good Morrow, 160The Indifferent, 161A Nocturnal upon St Lucy's Day, being the shortest

day, 162Song ('Go, and catch a falling star'), 163The Sun Rising, 164To his Mistress Going to Bed, 165

ERNEST DOWSON

Non Sum Qualis Eram Bonae Sub Regno Cynarae, 168

MICHAEL DRAYTON

'My heart was slain, and none but you and I', 169'Nothing but no and I, and I and no', 169'How many paltry, foolish, painted things', 170'An evil spirit your beauty haunts me still', 170'Since there's no help, come let us kiss and part', 171

CAROL ANN DUFFY

Oppenheim's Cup and Saucer, 172

PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR

A Negro Love Song, 173

[xi]

DOUGLAS DUNN

Re-reading Katherine Mansfield's Bliss and OtherStories, 174

LADY CATHERINE DYER

Epitaph on the Monument of Sir William Dyer atColm worth, 1641, 175

T. S. ELIOT

The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, 176Portrait of a Lady, 180La Figlia Che Piange, 184

JAMES FENTON

Out of Danger, 186Hinterhof, 186I'll Explain, 187In Paris With You, 188Yellow Tulips, 189The Alibi, 190

ROBERT FROST

Love and a Question, 191The Telephone, 192

JOHN FULLER

The Kiss, 193Two Voices, 194Valentine, 194

GEORGE GASCOIGNE

The Lullaby of a Lover, 198'And if I did, what then?', 199

W. S. GRAHAM

To My Wife at Midnight, 201

[xii]

ROBERT GRAVES

Love Without Hope, 204At First Sight, 204Down, Wanton, Down!, 204A Former Attachment, 205A Jealous Man, 205With Her Lips Only, 207She is No Liar, 207

THOMAS GRAY

Sonnet: On the Death of Richard West, 208

FULKE GREVILLE

'I with whose colours Myra dressed her head', 209

THOM GUNN

Touch, 210The Bed, 211The Hug, 212A Blank, 212Rapallo, 213In Trust, 215

IVOR GURNEY

To His Love, 217The Love Song, 217

W. C. HANDY

St. Louis Blues, 219Beale Street Blues, 220Loveless Love, 222

THOMAS HARDY

Neutral Tones, 224A Church Romance, 224A Thunderstorm in Town, 225

xiu

The Going, 225Your Last Drive, 227The Walk, 228Without Ceremony, 228After a Journey, 229At Castle Boterel, 230Where the Picnic Was, 231

SEAMUS HEANEY

Wedding Day, 23 3Act of Union, 233The Otter, 234The Skunk, 235The Underground, 236

ROBERT HERRICK

The Frozen Heart, 237No Loathsomnesse in love, 237The shoe tying, 23 8The Vine, 23 8Love perfumes all parts, 239Her Legs, 239Fresh Cheese and Cream, 239Upon Julia's Clothes, 239Upon Love, 240Kisses Loathsome, 240

GEOFFREY HILL

The Turtle Dove, 241

A. E. HOUSMAN

'Is my team ploughing', 242'If truth in hearts that perish', 243'Shot? so quick, so clean an ending?', 243'Her strong enchantments failing', 244Sinner's Rue, 245

[xiv]

'Ho, everyone that thirsteth', 246'Shake hands, we shall never be friends, all's over', 246'Because I liked you better', 247'He looked at me with eyes I thought', 247'He would not stay for me; and who can wonder?', 248

LANGSTON HUGHES

Evil Woman, 249Lament over Love, 249Brief Encounter, 250

KATHLEEN JAMIE

Perfect Day, 252

ALAN JENKINS

Fado, 253

BEN JONSON

Why I Write Not of Love, 254Song (To Celia), 254The Hour-Glass, 255My Picture Left in Scotland, 255Against Jealousy, 256The Dream, 256

PATRICK KAVANAGH

On Raglan Road, 257

JOHN KEATS

La Belle Dame sans Merci. A Ballad, 258'Bright Star! would I were steadfast as thou art', 260

HENRY KING

The Exequy. To his Matchless never to be forgottenFriend, 261

[xv]

RUDYARD KIPLING

The Oldest Song, 265Mandalay, 265'Mary, Pity Women!', 267The Widower, 269Rahere, 270

PHILIP LARKIN

Lines on a Young Lady's Photograph Album, 272An Arundel Tomb, 273Talking in Bed, 275Broadcast, 275

D. H. LAWRENCE

Cherry Robbers, 277Violets, 277Piano, 279Gloire de Dijon, 279A Youth Mowing, 280The Mess of Love, 280Intimates, 281

LESBIAN BLUES LYRICS OF THE 1920S

Prove It On Me Blues, 282B.D. Women Blues, 283Has Anybody Seen My Corinne?, 284

AMY LEVY

To Lallie, 286At a Dinner Party, 287

MICHAEL LONGLEY

The Rope-Makers, 288The Bat, 288The Linen Industry, 289The Pattern, 290

[xvi]

RICHARD LOVELACE

To Lucasta. Going to the Wars, 291To Althea. From Prison, 291La Bella Bona Roba, 292

KATHERINE MANSFIELD

Friendship, 294

CHRISTOPHER MARLOWE

The Passionate Shepherd to His Love, 295

ANDREW MARVELL

The Unfortunate Lover, 296The Definition of Love, 298To His Coy Mistress, 300Damon the Mower, 301The Mower to the Glowworms, 304

GEORGE MEREDITH

from Modern Love, 306'By this he knew she wept with waking eyes', 306'It ended, and the morrow brought the task', 306'A message from her set his brain aflame', 307'She issues radiant from her dressing-room', 307'He felt the wild beast in him betweenwhiles', 308'I think she sleeps: it must be sleep, when low', 308

CHARLOTTE MEW

The Farmer's Bride, 310In Nunhead Cemetery, 311A Quoi Bon Dire, 314The Road to Kerity, 314From a Window, 315My Heart is Lame, 315

[xvii]

JOHN MILTON

Sonnet I, 317Sonnet XIX, 317

LADY MARY WORTLEY MONTAGU

The Lover: A Ballad, 318

PAUL MULLDOON

Paris 320Bran 320History 321The Avenue 321

ALICE OSWALD

Wedding, 322

WILFRED OWEN

'I saw his round mouth's crimson deepen as it fell', 3 23'I am the Ghost of Shadwell Stair', 323

DOROTHY PARKER

One Perfect Rose, 3 24

DON PATERSON

A Gift 325

GEORGE PEELE

What Thing is Love?, 326Song ('Whenas the rye reach to the chin'), 326

COLE PORTER

Let's Do It, Let's Fall in Love, 3 27Night and Day, 3 29

CRAIG RAINE

The Onion, Memory, 331

[xviii]

MA RAINEY

Southern Blues, 333

CHRISTOPHER REID

At the Wrong Door, 334

ELIZABETH MADOX ROBERTS

An Old Love in Song, 335

CHRISTINA ROSSETTI

Winter: My Secret, 336'No, Thank You, John', 337

DANTE GABRIEL ROSSETTI

Without Her,.339Sudden Light, 339The Orchard-Pit, 340

SIEGFRIED SASSOON

Together, 341The Dug-Out, 341

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

'Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?', 342'A woman's face with nature's own hand painted', 342'Weary with toil I haste me to my bed', 343'When, in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes', 343'Why didst thou promise such a beauteous day', 344'No more be grieved at that which thou hast done', 344'Take all my loves, my love, yea, take them all', 344'That thou hast her, it is not all my grief, 345'What is your substance, whereof are you made', 345'Not marble nor the gilded monuments', 346'Is it thy will thy image should keep open', 346'Tired with all these, for restful death I cry', 347'No longer mourn for me when I am dead', 347

[xix]

'That time of year thou mayst in me behold', 348'Farewell - thou art too dear for my possessing', 348'How like a winter hath my absence been', 349'Let me not to the marriage of true minds', 349'Th'expense of spirit in a waste of shame', 349'Two loves I have, of comfort and despair', 3 50'Love is too young to know what conscience is', 3 50

PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY

A Hate-Song, 352To — ('Music, when soft voices die'), 352To — ('One word is too often profaned'), 352

RICHARD BRINSLEY SHERIDAN

Song and Chorus, 354

JAMES SHIRLEY

Good-night, 355

SIR PHILIP SIDNEY

'My true Love hath my heart, and I have his', 356'Sleep, baby mine, desire; nurse beauty singeth', 356'Ring out your bells, let mourning shows be spread', 357'Fly, fly, my friends, I have my death wound, fly', 358

W. D. SNODGRASS

Partial Eclipse, 359A Friend, 3 60Leaving the Motel, 361The Last Time, 3 62Old Jewelry, 362A Valediction, 3 63

WILLIAM SOUTAR

The Tryst, 365

[XX]

WALLACE STEVENSGray Room, 366

SIR JOHN SUCKLING

Love's World, 367A Song to a Lute, 370The Miracle, 370Against Fruition [I], 371Against Fruition [II], 372Sonnet [I], 373Sonnet [II], 374The Constant Lover, 375Song, 375Love's Siege, 376Farewell to Love, 378In Brennoralt, 3 80

ALFRED LORD TENNYSON

Circumstance, 381'Break, break, break', 381'Come not, when I am dead', 382from The Princess, 382

'Tears, idle tears, I know not what they mean', 382'Ask me no more: the moon may draw the sea', 383'Now sleeps the crimson petal, now the white', 383

from In Memoriam A. H. H., 384'Dark house, by which once more I stand', 3 84'Fair ship, that from the Italian shore', 384'I hear the noise about thy keel', 385'Calm is the morn without a sound', 386'By night we lingered on the lawn', 386

from Maud, 388'A voice by the cedar tree', 388'She came to the village church', 3 89'Come into the garden, Maud', 390

[xxi]

EDWARD THOMAS

Lovers, 393'Go Now', 393

ELIZABETH THOMAS

The Execration, 394A New Litany, Occasioned by an Invitation to a

Wedding, 394

ANTHONY THWAITE

Simple Poem, 395

W. J. TURNER

Romance, 396Giraffe and Tree, 397

EDMUND WALLER

On a Girdle, 398Song ('Go, lovely rose!'), 398

SYLVIA TOWNSEND WARNER

Drawing You, Heavy with Sleep . . . 400

EDITH WHARTON

Terminus, 401

WALT WHITMAN

When I Heard at the Close of the Day, 404City of Orgies, 405Behold This Swarthy Face, 405 \To a Stranger, 405We Two Boys Together Clinging, 406A Glimpse, 407Sometimes with One I Love, 407Among the Multitude, 407

[xxii]

O You Whom I Often and Silently Come, 408O Tan-Faced Prairie Boy, 408

HUGO WILLIAMS

A Look, 409Saturday Morning, 409Come On Up, 409

JOHN WILMOT, EARL OF ROCHESTER

Song ('Love a woman? You're an ass!'), 411Against Constancy, 411The Disabled Debauchee, 412

WILLIAM WORDSWORTH

'A slumber did my spirit seal', 414'She dwelt among the untrodden ways', 414'Strange fits of passion have I known', 415'I travelled among unknown men', 416Louisa, 416'Surprised by joy - impatient as the Wind', 417

SIR THOMAS WYATT

'They flee from me that sometime did me seek', 418'Blame not my lute for he must sound', 418'My lute, awake! Perform the last', 420'Is it possible', 421

W. B. YEATS

To an Isle in the Water, 423Down by the Salley Gardens, 423When You Are Old, 424The Fish, 424The Song of Wandering Aengus, 424The Heart of the Woman, 425.The Lover Mourns for the Loss of Love, 426

[xxiii]

He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven, 426O Do Not Love Too Long, 426A Woman Homer Sung, 427No Second Troy, 428A Drinking Song, 428To a Young Girl, 428After Long Silence, 429A Last Confession, 429The Lover's Song, 430Politics, 430

Acknowledgements, 431

Index of Titles and First Lines, 435

[xxiv]