Henry Livingston (Генри Ливингстон)

A Valentine

WELLCOME, wellcome, happy day,
Wherein love-sick maidens may
Unrestrained tell their swains
All their fondness, all their pains.

Honest truth we may declare
Only once within a year —
Cruel custom ties us down
To this day & this alone.

Dearest Willy, now believe me
Tho my frowns might long deceive you
When your ardent suit you press'd
All was tumult in my breast.
Trembling on my faultring tongue
Soft confessions often hung.

Charming fellow, when you sigh'd
All the pride within me dy'd
And it was with much ado
I could stammer No, no, no.

Now, dear shepherd, all is over
I will meet thee as a lover!
Pleased, I will freely bless
And right willing cry Yes, Yes!

Henry Livingston’s other poems:

  1. To the Memory of Henry Welles Livingston
  2. Acknowledgement
  3. 1819 New Year’s Carrier’s Address
  4. Dialogue
  5. The Procession

Poems of other poets with the same name (Стихотворения других поэтов с таким же названием):

  • Lewis Carroll (Льюис Кэрролл) A Valentine (“And cannot pleasures, while they last”)
  • Dinah Craik (Дина Крейк) A Valentine (“YE are twa laddies unco gleg”)
  • Edgar Poe (Эдгар По) A Valentine (“For her this rhyme is penned, whose luminous eyes”)
  • Madison Cawein (Мэдисон Кавейн) A Valentine (“My life is grown a witchcraft place”)
  • Eugene Field (Юджин Филд) A Valentine (“Your gran’ma, in her youth, was quite”)
  • James Fields (Джеймс Филдс) A Valentine (“She that is fair, though never vain or proud”)




    To the dedicated English version of this website