Mayday: two came to field in such wise :
`A daisied mead’, each said to each,
So were they one; so sought they couch,
Across barbed stile, through flocked brown cows.
`No pitchforked farmer, please,’ she said;
`May cockcrow guard us safe,’ said he;
By blackthorn thicket, flower spray
They pitched their coats, come to green bed.
Below: a fen where water stood;
Aslant: their hill of stinging nettle;
Then, honor-bound, mute grazing cattle;
Above: leaf-wraithed white air, white cloud.
All afternoon these lovers lay
Until the sun turned pale from warm,
Until sweet wind changed tune, blew harm :
Cruel nettles stung her angles raw.
Rueful, most vexed, that tender skin
Should accept so fell a wound,
He stamped and cracked stalks to the ground
Which had caused his dear girl pain.
Now he goes from his rightful road
And, under honor, will depart;
While she stands burning, venom-girt,
In wait for sharper smart to fade.
(Sylvia Plath)
More Poetry from Sylvia Plath:
Sylvia Plath Poems based on Topics: Flowers, Cows, Pain, Honor- Tulips (Sylvia Plath Poems)
- Monologue At 3 AM (Sylvia Plath Poems)
- Blackberrying (Sylvia Plath Poems)
- Medusa (Sylvia Plath Poems)
- An Appearance (Sylvia Plath Poems)
- Pheasant (Sylvia Plath Poems)
Readers Who Like This Poem Also Like:
Based on Topics: Flowers Poems, Pain Poems, Honor Poems, Cows PoemsBased on Keywords: pitched, barbed, grazing, stinging, stile, angles, daisied, rightful, cockcrow, nettles, flocked