The Poems of Oscar Wilde/Chanson

by Oscar Wilde

CHANSON

A ring of gold and a milk-white dove
Are goodly gifts for thee,
And a hempen rope for your own love
To hang upon a tree.

 

For you a House of Ivory,
(Roses are white in the rose-bower)!
A narrow bed for me to lie,
(White, O white, is the hemlock flower)!

 

Myrtle and jessamine for you,
(O the red rose is fair to see)!
For me the cypress and the rue,
(Fairest of all is rosemary)!

 

For you three lovers of your hand,
(Green grass where a man lies dead)!
For me three paces on the sand,
(Plant lilies at my head)!