What Will You Give?
By Dora Sigerson Shorter
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.