What can I give you, my lord, my lover,
you who have given the world to me,
showed me the light and joy that cover
the wild sweet earth and the restless sea?
All I have are gifts for your giving--
if I gave them again, you would find them old,
and your soul would weary of always living
before the mirror my life would hold.
What shall I give you, my lord, my lover,
the gift that breaks the heart in me:
I bid you awake at dawn and discover
I have gone my way and left you free.
you who have given the world to me,
showed me the light and joy that cover
the wild sweet earth and the restless sea?
All I have are gifts for your giving--
if I gave them again, you would find them old,
and your soul would weary of always living
before the mirror my life would hold.
What shall I give you, my lord, my lover,
the gift that breaks the heart in me:
I bid you awake at dawn and discover
I have gone my way and left you free.
-- Sara Teasdale
