Personal anthology: Robert Graves
Because I haven’t posted a random favorite poem for a while:
Love Without Hope
Love without hope, as when the young bird-catcher
Swept off his tall hat to the Squire’s own daughter,
So let the imprisoned larks escape and fly
Singing about her head, as she rode by.
What I love about this poem: its tremendous compression (so much of the scene is implied, so economically, in the tall hat and the "imprisoned larks"), the surprise of "Singing about her head," and that wonderful off-rhyme of "catcher" and "daughter," which seems almost to measure the distance between the two characters even while it links them together.
(While Googling to make sure I remembered it right, I saw that Alan of this moment once posted it too. Great minds, etc. etc.)
It’s a good thing you posted it again because I don’t remember alan posting it before, but, hey, i’m sometimes surprised to discover that I’ve posted a particular poem before.
Lovely. I appreciate your insightful comments on the poem.