| Robert Frost (1874–1963). A Boy’s Will. 1915. |
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| 4. Love and a Question |
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| A STRANGER came to the door at eve, | |
| And he spoke the bridegroom fair. | |
| He bore a green-white stick in his hand, | |
| And, for all burden, care. | |
| He asked with the eyes more than the lips | 5 |
| For a shelter for the night, | |
| And he turned and looked at the road afar | |
| Without a window light. | |
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| The bridegroom came forth into the porch | |
| With, ‘Let us look at the sky, | 10 |
| And question what of the night to be, | |
| Stranger, you and I.’ | |
| The woodbine leaves littered the yard, | |
| The woodbine berries were blue, | |
| Autumn, yes, winter was in the wind; | 15 |
| ’Stranger, I wish I knew.’ | |
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| Within, the bride in the dusk alone | |
| Bent over the open fire, | |
| Her face rose-red with the glowing coal | |
| And the thought of the heart’s desire. | 20 |
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| The bridegroom looked at the weary road, | |
| Yet saw but her within, | |
| And wished her heart in a case of gold | |
| And pinned with a silver pin. | |
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| The bridegroom thought it little to give | 25 |
| A dole of bread, a purse, | |
| A heartfelt prayer for the poor of God, | |
| Or for the rich a curse; | |
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| But whether or not a man was asked | |
| To mar the love of two | 30 |
| By harboring woe in the bridal house, | |
| The bridegroom wished he knew. | |
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