Sonnet 07

Alan Seeger

There have been times when I could storm and plead,

But you shall never hear me supplicate.

These long months that have magnified my need

Have made my asking less importunate,

For now small favors seem to me so great

That not the courteous lovers of old time

Were more content to rule themselves and wait,

Easing desire with discourse and sweet rhyme.

Nay, be capricious, willful; have no fear

To wound me with unkindness done or said,

Lest mutual devotion make too dear

My life that hangs by a so slender thread,

And happy love unnerve me before May

For that stern part that I have yet to play.