Céleste

Of sweethearts I have had a score,
    And time may bring as many more;
Tho' I remember all the rest,
    Just now I worship dear Céleste;
Hers may not be the greatest love,
    But ah! it is the latest love.

        For little Cupid's never stupid,
        As I've found out;
        And love is truest when 'tis newest,
        Beyond a doubt, beyond a doubt.

Of sweethearts I have had a score,
    Céleste says I deserve no more;
I take revenge on dear Céleste,
    By telling her I love her best;
Hers may not be the greatest love,
    But ah! it is the latest love.

        For little Cupid's never stupid,
        As I've found out;
        And love is truest when 'tis newest,
        Beyond a doubt, beyond a doubt.

Arthur Macy

Arthur Macy was an American poet known for his contributions during the 19th century. Born on June 6, 1842, he became widely recognized for his poignant and evocative verses, which often reflected themes of nature and human emotion. His poetry gained considerable respect and admiration during his lifetime. He passed away on June 1, 1904.

Arthur Macy

The Gurgling Imps

Arthur Macy, Simple Poetry

The Indifferent Mariner

Arthur Macy, Simple Poetry

Valentines From A Hyperbolist

Arthur Macy, Simple Poetry

All On A Golden Summer Day

Arthur Macy, Simple Poetry

English

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Valentines From An Inconstant-Constant

(After Henri Murger)

Though I love many maidens fair
As fondly as a heart may dare,
Yet still are you the only one
True goddess of my pantheon.

And though my life is like a song,
Each maid a stanza, clear and strong,
Yet always I return again
To you who are the sweet refrain.

Arthur Macy

A Bit Of Color

[PARIS, 1896]


Oh, damsel fair at the Porte Maillot,
With the soft blue eyes that haunt me so,
        Pray what should I do
        When a girl like you
Bestows her smile, her glance, and her sigh
On the first fond fool that is passing by,
Who listens and longs as the sweet words flow
From her pretty red lips at the Porte Maillot?

There were lips as red ere you were born,
Now wreathed in smiles, now curled in scorn,
        And other bright eyes
        With their truth and lies,
That broke the heart and turned the brain
Of many a tender, lovelorn swain;
But never, I ween, brought half the woe
That comes from the lips at the Porte Maillot.

A charming picture, there you stand,
A perfect work from a master's hand!
        W...

Arthur Macy

Constancy

I first saw Phebe when the show'rs
Had just made brighter all the flow'rs;
        Yet she was fair
        As any there,
And so I loved her hours and hours.

Then I met Helen, and her ways
Set my untutored heart ablaze.
        I loved at sight
        And deemed it right
To worship her for days and days.

Yet when I gazed on Clara's cheeks
And spoke the language Cupid speaks,
        O'er all the rest
        She seemed the best,
And so I loved her weeks and weeks.

But last of Love's sweet souvenirs
Was Delia with her sighs and tears.
        Of her it seemed
        I'd always dreamed,
And so I loved her years and years.

But now again with Phebe met,
I love the first one of the set.
        "Fickle," you s...

Arthur Macy

Ballade Of Forgotten Loves

Some poets sing of sweethearts dead,
    Some sing of true loves far away;
Some sing of those that others wed,
    And some of idols turned to clay.
    I sing a pensive roundelay
To sweethearts of a doubtful lot,
    The passions vanished in a day,
The little loves that I've forgot.

For, as the happy years have sped,
    And golden dreams have changed to gray,
How oft the flame of love was fed
    By glance, or smile, from Maud or May,
    When wayward Cupid was at play;
Mere fancies, formed of who knows what,
    But still my debt I ne'er can pay,
The little loves that I've forgot.

O joyous hours forever fled!
    O sudden hopes that would not stay!
Held only by the slender thread
    Of memory that's all astray.
    Their ver...

Arthur Grissom

My Masterpiece

I wrote the truest, tend'rest song
    The world had ever heard;
And clear, melodious, and strong,
    And sweet was every word.
The flowing numbers came to me
    Unbidden from the heart;
So pure the strain, that poesy
    Seemed something more than art.

No doubtful cadence marred a line,
    So tunefully it flowed,
And through the measure, all divine
    The fire of genius glowed.
So deftly were the verses wrought,
    So fair the legend told,
That every word revealed a thought,
    And every thought was gold.

Mine was the charm, the power, the skill,
    The wisdom of the years;
'Twas mine to move the world at will
    To laughter or to tears.
For subtile pleasantry was there,
    And brilliant flash of wit;
Now, pl...

Arthur Macy

Lovelace Grown Old

I

My life has been like a bee that roves
Through a scented garden close,
And 'tis I who have kept the honey of love,
The hoarded sweetness and scent thereof,
For all I forget the rose.

Oh, exquisite gardens long forgot
That have made my store complete,
Though winter fall upon blossom and bee,
Yet the kisses I garnered remain with me
Forever and ever sweet.


II

The Priest hath had his word and said his say--
A word i' faith more honest than beguiling--
But now he turns upon his gloomy way--
Good soul, he leaves me smiling.

I may not ponder much on future wrath;
Of all those loves of mine, some six or seven,
Surely ere this have climbed that thorny path
That leads at last to Heaven.

My bold, brown beau...

Theodosia Garrison