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What Will You Give?
by Dora Sigerson ShorterWhat will you give me, if I will wed?
'A golden gown
To come sweetly down,
And deck you from foot to head.'
How will you keep me, if I am cold?
'By a heart so warm,
The bravest storm
Dare not force through my strong hands' hold.'
How will you please me, if I should thirst?
'Why by the rape
Of the purple grape,
Which the summer and sun have nursed.'
If I should hunger what may I eat?
'For you the skies
The falcon flies,
And the hounds on the stag are fleet.'
How can you comfort when fair youth dies,
When the spirit's fain
For a purer gain,
Than the satisfied flesh supplies?
'But this I promise, when starved and cold
A lonely soul
Finds for its goal
A six-foot bed and churchyard mould.'