Poem by Elinor Wylie

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Now am I Orson to your Valentine
Forever, and I choose it shall be so;
For how should the uncivil briar grow
Germane in nature to the noble vine?
The savage should be servant to the fine;
The falcon fly superior to the crow;
O dear my lord, believe me that I know
How far your virtues have outnumbered mine.

And you have levied final tribute now—
Your chivalry demanding the pretence—
You have constrained your vassal to avow
That we are equals, lest a violence
Be suffered by our love, and so I must
Deny the intrinsic difference in our dust.

1. Would I Might Make Subliminal My Flesh
2. I Have Believed That I Prefer to Live
3. Now Shall the Long Homesickness Have an End
4. Children and Dogs Are Subject to My Power
5. The Pekingese

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