Poem by Alan Seeger

Thirty Sonnets. 21. Virginibus Puerisque

I care not that one listen if he lives
For aught but life's romance, nor puts above
All life's necessities the need to love,
Nor counts his greatest wealth what Beauty gives.
But sometime on an afternoon in spring,
When dandelions dot the fields with gold,
And under rustling shade a few weeks old
'Tis sweet to stroll and hear the bluebirds sing,
Do you, blond head, whom beauty and the power
Of being young and winsome have prepared
For life's last privilege that really pays,
Make the companion of an idle hour
These relics of the time when I too fared
Across the sweet fifth lustrum of my days.

1. Thirty Sonnets. 19. Vivien
2. Thirty Sonnets. 28. On the Cliffs, Newport
3. Thirty Sonnets. 30. At the Tomb of Napoleon before the Elections in America--November, 1912
4. Sonnet 9. Well, seeing I have no hope, then let us part
5. Thirty Sonnets. 8. Sonnet 8. Oft as by chance, a little while apart

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