A Love Poem Project part 7

We stood by at dawn that blistered day,
And watched the sun turn white, as though
lovers we looked on,
And a few whispers lay on the starving ears,
--They left us fallen from silences, and our happy
ignorance.

Your eyes on me were as eyes that hide
Under tedious accusations that we should have resolved;
And some words you played between the good and
the bad--
On each side a loss more than our love.

The sick smile on your mouth is the ugliest
thing
Vile enough to halve a woman's strength to live;
And the will of sour apples to hang to the tree
Like luminous signs against grace...

Since then, a few lessons learned from my love,
And words where I too was wrong, have slapped against
Your face, and the cold-lighted sun, and an apple tree
And a dawn remembered with grayish detail.

Neutral Tones by Thomas Hardy from Wessex Poems

We stood by a pond that winter day,
And the sun was white, as though
chidden of God,
And a few leaves lay on the starving sod,
--They had fallen from an ash, and were
gray.

Your eyes on me were as eyes that rove
Over tedious riddles solved years ago;
And some words played between us to and
fro--
On which lost the more by our love.

The smile on your mouth was the deadest
thing
Alive enough to have strength to die;
And a grin of bitterness swept therby
Like an ominous bird a-wing...

Since then, keen lessons that love deceives,
And wrings with wrong, have shaped me to
Your face, and the God-crust sun, and a tree
And a pond edged with grayish leaves.