Favorite Poems

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                  Envoi

Take of me what is not my own,

my love, my beauty, and my poem—

the pain is mine, and mine alone.

See how against the weight in the bone

the hawk hangs perfect in mid-air—

the blood pays dear to raise it there,

the moment, not the bird, divine.

And see the peaceful trees extend

their myriad leaves in leisured dance—

they bear the weight of sky and cloud

upon the fountain of their veins.

In rose with petals soft as air

I bind for you the tides and fire—

the death that lives within the flower,

oh gladly, love, for you I bear!

             Kathleen Raine

             1908-

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