by Christina Rossetti
Promise me no promises So will I not promise you: Keep we both our liberties, Never false and never true: Let us hold the die uncast, Free to come as free to go: For I cannot know your past, And of mine what can you know? You, so warm, may once have been Warmer towards another one: I, so cold, may once have seen Sunlight, once have felt the sun: Who shall show us if it was Thus indeed in time of old? Fades the image from the glass, Snd the fortune is not told. If you promised, you might not grieve For lost liberty again: If I promised, I believe I should fret to break the chain. Let us be the friends we were, Nothing more, but nothing less: Many thrive on frugal fare Who would perish of excess.
Robin's Nest 