Romance


by Edgal Alan Poe


 Romance,   who  loves to nod and sing
   With dro     wsy head and folded wing
     Among th     e green leaves as they shake
       Far down     within some shadowy lake,
       To me a      painted paroquet
     Hath bee     n—most familiar bird—
   Taught m     e my alphabet to say,
 To lisp m     y very earliest word
 While in     the wild wood I did lie,
   A child—     with a most knowing eye.
     Of late,      eternal condor years
       So shake      the very Heaven on high
       With tum     ult as they thunder by,
     I have n     o time for idle cares
   Through      gazing on the unquiet sky;
 And when     an hour with calmer wings
   Its down      upon my spirit flings,
    That litt     le time with lyre and rhyme
       To whil     eaway—forbidden things—
     My heart   would feel to be a crime
   Unless i     t trembled with the strings.