I SHALL NOT DIE

I shall not die because of you,
  O woman though you shame the swan;
They were foolish men you killed;
  Do not think me a foolish man.

Why should I leave the world behind
  For the soft hand, the dreaming eye,
The scarlet mouth, the breasts of snow,
  Is it for these you'd have me die?

The joyous air, the fancy free,
  The slender palm, the eye of blue,
The side like foam, the virgin neck?
  I shall not die because of you.

The devil take the golden hair!
  The maiden thought, the voice so gay,
The rounded heel, the pillared calf
  Only some foolish man would slay.

O woman though you shame the swan,
  A wise man taught me all he knew,
I know the subleties of love,
  I shall not die because of you.


Source: Lords and Commons, 1938 (reprint 1971), p. 21