1 Modern love is that which comes much To those who do not wish to feel The shocking nature of its touch Upon which it does not seem real. 2 Those who find despair in the dark Will never taste another’s love Until they find and hear the lark As he sings his praise to the dove. 3 It arrives quicker than you think But it can leave you just as fast. Fate lives and dies swift like a wink; Like a crowded room, it won’t last. 4 She knows that true love is a storm. Two perfect souls do rarely meet Before the world makes them conform And their connection takes its fleet. 5 It takes too much to join two parts, So love lives in a middle state, (Still, Love depends on our two hearts) And if it passes, all will wait. 6 But when the giddy heaven wins Against the torn down Earthly smoke, Two become one and so begins A bond like the earth to Oak. 7 When paths so destined do both meet, And Fate takes this round’s victory, That love will flourish as concrete In all the world’s supremacy. 8 Therefore Love which holds them near And defies the odds of poor Fate, Is rare as when the night is clear And will for none a lifetime wait.
Written for a 17th century poets class. Inspired by Marvell.