What Will You Give?

What 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 spirits 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.

Dora Sigerson Shorter

Dora Sigerson Shorter was an Irish poet and sculptor born in Dublin in 1866. She was one of the leading figures of the Irish Literary Revival, a movement that aimed to promote Irish literature and culture in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. She was also a close friend of W.B. Yeats and married the writer and journalist Clement King Shorter. Dora's work often dealt with themes of Irish nationalism and folklore, and she published several volumes of poetry before her untimely death in 1918.

Dora Sigerson Shorter

A Weeping Cupid

Dora Sigerson Shorter, Simple Poetry

The Suicides Grave

Dora Sigerson Shorter, Simple Poetry

For Ever

Dora Sigerson Shorter, Simple Poetry

English

Suggested Poems

Explore a curated selection of verses that share themes, styles, and emotional resonance with the poem you've just read.

Marriage Thoughts: by Morsellin Khan

Bridegroom
I give you my house and my lands, all golden with harvest;
My sword, my shield, and my jewels, the spoils of my strife,
My strength and my dreams, and aught I have gathered of glory,
And to-night - to-night, I shall give you my very life.

Bride
I may not raise my eyes, O my Lord, towards you,
And I may not speak: what matter? my voice would fail.
But through my dowacast lashes, feeling your beauty,
I shiver and burn with pleasure beneath my veil.

Younger Sisters
We throw sweet perfume upon her head,
And delicate flowers round her bed.
Ah, would that it were our turn to wed!

Mother
I see my daughter, vaguely, through my tears,
(Ah, lost caresses of my early years!)
I see the bridegroom, King of men i...

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The Ballad Of The Fairy Thorn-Tree

This is an evil night to go, my sister,
        To the fairy-tree across the fairy rath,
Will you not wait till Hallow Eve is over?
        For many are the dangers in your path!

I may not wait till Hallow Eve is over,
        I shall be there before the night is fled,
For, brother, I am weary for my lover,
        And I must see him once, alive or dead.

Ive prayed to heaven, but it would not listen,
        Ill call thrice in the devils name to-night,
Be it a live man that shall come to hear me,
        Or but a corpse, all clad in snowy white.

* * * * *

She had drawn on her silken hose and garter,
        Her crimson petticoat was kilted high,
She trod her way amid the bog and brambles,
        Until the fairy-tree she stood near-b...

Dora Sigerson Shorter

The Hour And The Ghost

    BRIDE

O love, love, hold me fast,
He draws me away from thee;
I cannot stem the blast,
Nor the cold strong sea:
Far away a light shines
Beyond the hills and pines;
It is lit for me.

    BRIDEGROOM

I have thee close, my dear,
No terror can come near;
Only far off the northern light shines clear.

    GHOST

Come with me, fair and false,
To our home, come home.
It is my voice that calls:
Once thou wast not afraid
When I woo'd, and said,
'Come, our nest is newly made'--
Now cross the tossing foam.

    BRIDE

Hold me one moment longer,
He taunts me with the past,
His clutch is waxing stronger,
Hold me fast, hold me fast.
He draws me from thy heart,
And I cannot withhold:

Christina Georgina Rossetti

The Bride

I

Though other eyes were turned to him,
He turned to look in mine;
Though others filled the cup abrim,
He might not taste the wine.

I am so glad my eyes were first
In which his own might sink;
I am so glad he went athirst
Until I bade him drink.


II

The Well-Belovèd took my hand
And led me to his fair abode,
The home that Love and he had planned.
(Strange that so well I knew the road.)

And through the open door we went,
And at our feet the hearth-light fell,
And I--I laughed in all content,
Seeing I knew the place so well.

Ah, to no stranger Love displayed
Its every nook, its every grace,
This was the House of Dreams I made
Long, long before I saw his face.


III

I jest...

Theodosia Garrison

To My Bride (Whoever She May Be)

Oh! little maid! (I do not know your name
Or who you are, so, as a safe precaution
I'll add) Oh, buxom widow! married dame!
(As one of these must be your present portion)
Listen, while I unveil prophetic lore for you,
And sing the fate that Fortune has in store for you.

You'll marry soon within a year or twain
A bachelor of circa two and thirty:
Tall, gentlemanly, but extremely plain,
And when you're intimate, you'll call him "BERTIE."
Neat dresses well; his temper has been classified
As hasty; but he's very quickly pacified.

You'll find him working mildly at the Bar,
After a touch at two or three professions,
From easy affluence extremely far,
A brief or two on Circuit "soup" at Sessions;
A pound or two from whist and backing horses,
And, say...

William Schwenck Gilbert

Lines For The Bridal

They will place a bridal wreath, maiden,
    To crown all your shining hair;
The mist-like cloud of the bridal veil
    Will float round a face most fair.

They will dress you in bridal robes, maiden,
    And the holy words be said,
And the ring put on and two made one,
    And the maiden we love be wed.

You'll give him your virgin hand, maiden,
    And become a wedded wife;
That hand will mingle "honey for two"
    To sweeten the bitter of life.

They will give you costly gifts, maiden,
    And many a wish beside
Will rise in prayer in blessings come down
    On thy head O fair young bride

And kind will the bridegroom be maiden
    True and tender as years roll on
Who learns to love in the school of Christ
    Will cherish...

Nora Pembroke