Poem by Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Life and I (Life and I are lovers, straying)

Life and I are lovers, straying
   Arm in arm along:
Often like two children Maying,
   Full of mirth and song,

Life plucks all the blooming hours
   Growing by the way;
Binds them on my brow like flowers,
   Calls me Queen of May.

Then again, in rainy weather,
   We sit vis-à-vis,
Planning work we’ll do together
   In the years to be.

Sometimes Life denies me blisses,
   And I frown or pout;
But we make it up with kisses
   Ere the day is out.

Woman-like, I sometimes grieve him,
   Try his trust and faith,
Saying I shall one day leave him
   For his rival, Death.

Then he always grows more zealous,
   Tender, and more true;
Loves the more for being jealous,
   As all lovers do.

Though I swear by stars above him,
   And by worlds beyond,
That I love him-love him-love him;
   Though my heart is fond;

Though he gives me, doth my lover,
   Kisses with each breath-
I shall one day throw him over,
   And plight troth with Death.

1. Worldly Wisdom
2. At Eleusis
3. Affirm
4. At Forty-Eight
5. I Shall Not Forget

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