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. The Birth of the Orchid
2. The Call (All wantonly in hours of joy)
3. Be Not Attached
4. Behold the Earth
5. The Black Charger

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