English Poetry. Lucy Maud Montgomery. To One Hated. Люси Мод Монтгомери.

Lucy Maud Montgomery (Люси Мод Монтгомери)

To One Hated

Had it been when I came to the valley where the paths parted asunder,
Chance had led my feet to the way of love, not hate,
I might have cherished you well, have been to you fond and faithful,
Great as my hatred is, so might my love have been great. 

Each cold word of mine might have been a kiss impassioned,
Warm with the throb of my heart, thrilled with my pulse’s leap,
And every glance of scorn, lashing, pursuing, and stinging,
As a look of tenderness would have been wondrous and deep. 

Bitter our hatred is, old and strong and unchanging,
Twined with the fibres of life, blent with body and soul,
But as its bitterness, so might have been our love’s sweetness
Had it not missed the way­strange missing and sad!­to its goal.

Lucy Maud Montgomery’s other poems:

1. When the Fishing Boats Go Out
2. On the Bay
3. The Hill Maples
4. The Truce of Night
5. With Tears They Buried You Today

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