illustration from A Midsummer Night's Dream, by Simmons‘Come Away with Me’: A Poem by Daniel Howard The Society September 20, 2025 Love Poems, Poetry 9 Comments . Come Away with Me ___I ___Come away with me, ___Birds will never sing ___In the place where we ___View no flower in Spring, Nor behold the sight of any natural thing. ___II ___Vain is it to build ___Brick by brick our dome, ___Nature having willed ___Animals to roam Over any land they please to call their home. ___III ___Tightly squeeze the hand ___Pulling you away ___Toward the virgin land ___Lying near the bay Where the ocean bathes the golden hair of day. ___IV ___Pastures, hills, and prairies, ___Valleys, glens, and groves ___Are the sanctuaries ___We will see from coves Swept by fragrant winds with which the psyche roves. ___V ___Should the breeze shake fruit ___Like the crimson cherries ___Downwards from the shoot, ___We will swim for berries Drowned in crystal streams o’er which our kayak ferries. ___VI ___Say that you desire ___Savoury over sweet, ___By an open fire ___We shall take our seat, Watching as the fat is melted from the meat. ___VII ___Throw away your money, ___Silver, and the ilk, ___We will live on honey, ___Heifers full of milk, And the spider’s wish to weave us webs of silk. ___VIII ___Joy’s awaiting you ___Where the wild is king ___If you take your cue ___From the birds that sing And the mammals mingling in the midst of Spring. ___IX ___Rabbits through the grass, ___Turtles from the creek ___Will arrive en masse ___Towards you as they seek Whence the music comes, and marvel as you speak. ___X ___Come and let us meet ___In the secret place ___Where the tracks of feet ___Gradually efface, Leaving of our lingering presence there no trace. ___XI ___There we both shall lie ___Nestled in grass beds, ___Where the fawns, so shy, ___Hide from one that treads Through the meadow full of young and drowsy heads. ___XII ___We will hear the gale ___Rustle through the reeds, ___And ourselves exhale ___Thought in all its breeds On the zephyr’s wings, which fly at whispering speeds. ___XIII ___Peaceful as a rock ___Underneath the tree, ___Restful as a flock ___Sleeping on the lea, Thus would be our souls, were you and I to flee. . . Daniel Joseph Howard studied law in his native Ireland, earned an MA in philosophy at King’s College London and worked for the European Commission. He is currently a pensionnaire étranger at the École Normale Supérieure in Paris, as well as a Teaching Fellow and PhD candidate in the United States. NOTE TO READERS: If you enjoyed this poem or other content, please consider making a donation to the Society of Classical Poets. The Society of Classical Poets does not endorse any views expressed in individual poems or commentary. ***Read Our Comments Policy Here*** 9 Responses Margaret Coats September 20, 2025 Daniel, what a splendid lyric in this traditionally popular genre! Popular no more, perhaps, but you are able to revive it. The perfection of this “invitation” kind is to make it so lovely the obvious practical objections fail to surface during the enchanting reading. You achieve that with exquisitely clear simplicity. But even the clarity hides word choices expansive yet subtle. The one I particularly like is, “Thought in all its breeds.” You could have said, “Thought and all it breeds,” but that would not call up the incomparable indistinct image of creatures (not ideas or plans) bred by thought. One little imperfection in stanza XI troubles me. It’s the too common but still erroneous grammar mistake of saying, “from he that treads.” “He” is the object of the preposition “from” and therefore should stand in the objective case as “him.” The next word “that” functions as the pronoun subject of “treads,” meaning you have no need of a nominative “he” to serve as subject. Two pronouns in a row like these often cause such an error, and I am used to having writers tell me, “Oh, that’s just how people speak these days.” No excuse for poor grammar in fine poetry! I hope you will ask the moderator to correct the error, either by substituting “him” for “he,” or by saying “from one that treads.” “One” is preferable from my point of view, because you have no other masculine singular third-person pronoun in the poem. The “he” or “him” might introduce confusion about the possible presence of someone other than the speaker and the beloved whom he addresses. Thanks for considering the suggestion to slightly improve your admirably musical lyric. Reply Daniel Howard September 21, 2025 Dear Margaret, I will happily defer to your expertise and request that the moderator alternate the fourth line of stanza XI to “Hide from one that treads”. Would you recommend any particular book on English grammar? Reply Margaret Brinton September 21, 2025 Mystical, whimsical, lyrical. Just lovely! Reply Paulette Calasibetta September 21, 2025 An elaborate and charming proposal…..did she say yes? Reply C.B. Anderson September 21, 2025 This is crazy stuff, in a way the poetic ideal. This nonce form should be given a name, and should be imitated. The author has found good use for it, and so should others. Reply Daniel Howard September 21, 2025 That’s very kind of you, Mr. Anderson. The form is a modified version of the one used by Shelley in his ode ‘To a Skylark’. I retained its rhyme scheme but changed the metre here and there. I dropped the final unstressed syllable required of lines written in trochaic metre and did not include any pure iambic lines, whereas Shelley added a line of iambic hexameter to finish off each stanza. I chose the trochaic foot to convey the immediacy and excitement of the sentiment. The problem with the trochee, however, is that it can sometimes sound unnatural or stiff; hence why I occasionally made the first foot of certain lines an anapaest. Reply C.B. Anderson September 22, 2025 That’s all good, Daniel, but don’t expect many persons to experience the subtleties of meter or even care about it. Metrical irregularities usually don’t convey anything, except from an author to himself. Words and meanings carry most of the weight. Paul A. Freeman September 22, 2025 I was reminded of the book and the film, ‘The Secret Garden’. Magical! Thanks for the read. Reply Mary Jane Myers September 22, 2025 Dear Daniel Bravo! A wonderful poem. Images are magical. I’m intrigued by your experimental form: quintains consisting of 4 lines of the catalectic trochaic trimeter followed by a fifth line that I read as catalectic trochaic hexameter. There is an exact rhyme scheme: ABABB. (Note: in several places you substitute complete trochaics: as in stanza 4, lines 1 and 3 “a” rhymes; stanza 5, lines 2, 4 and 5 “b” rhymes; and stanza 7, lines 1 and 3″a” rhymes.) Each stanza mimics almost-natural speech: a lover importuning his beloved to run away with him to an idyllic unspoiled natural place. He is rhapsodizing in rhymes–he’s so enthusiastic! I’m fascinated by the syllabic count also: for the most part, 4 lines of 5 syllables, followed by a final line of 11 syllables, for a total of 31–which (coincidentally?) the syllabic count of a traditional Japanese tanka, used in all those famous love letters in Tales of Genji. I researched trochaic trimeter–found almost nothing about it in English language poetics–but the Russians seem to use it (?!) and often in a fairy-tale context. So for example: Pasternak’s Dr. Zhivago, Zhivago composes a fairy-tale poem for Lara about a knight rescuing his lady-love, when the lovers hide at Varykino during the winter (in the movie, a winter wonderland). Here’s a link to that poem: (Poem 13 in this collection): https://www.pnreview.co.uk/archive/emfromem-the-poems-of-yuri-zhivagoem-translated-by-richard-pevear-and-larissa-volokhonskyem/6099 In any event, the poem is wonderful. What I especially love is the way the plants and animals are helpful to the lovers. I was especially charmed by the lines: We will live on honey, Heifers full of milk, And the spider’s wish to weave us webs of silk. And then that lovely Stanza 9, where the rabbits and turtles arrive to “marvel.”! Mary Jane Reply Leave a Reply Cancel ReplyYour email address will not be published.CommentName* Email* Website Δ
Margaret Coats September 20, 2025 Daniel, what a splendid lyric in this traditionally popular genre! Popular no more, perhaps, but you are able to revive it. The perfection of this “invitation” kind is to make it so lovely the obvious practical objections fail to surface during the enchanting reading. You achieve that with exquisitely clear simplicity. But even the clarity hides word choices expansive yet subtle. The one I particularly like is, “Thought in all its breeds.” You could have said, “Thought and all it breeds,” but that would not call up the incomparable indistinct image of creatures (not ideas or plans) bred by thought. One little imperfection in stanza XI troubles me. It’s the too common but still erroneous grammar mistake of saying, “from he that treads.” “He” is the object of the preposition “from” and therefore should stand in the objective case as “him.” The next word “that” functions as the pronoun subject of “treads,” meaning you have no need of a nominative “he” to serve as subject. Two pronouns in a row like these often cause such an error, and I am used to having writers tell me, “Oh, that’s just how people speak these days.” No excuse for poor grammar in fine poetry! I hope you will ask the moderator to correct the error, either by substituting “him” for “he,” or by saying “from one that treads.” “One” is preferable from my point of view, because you have no other masculine singular third-person pronoun in the poem. The “he” or “him” might introduce confusion about the possible presence of someone other than the speaker and the beloved whom he addresses. Thanks for considering the suggestion to slightly improve your admirably musical lyric. Reply
Daniel Howard September 21, 2025 Dear Margaret, I will happily defer to your expertise and request that the moderator alternate the fourth line of stanza XI to “Hide from one that treads”. Would you recommend any particular book on English grammar? Reply
C.B. Anderson September 21, 2025 This is crazy stuff, in a way the poetic ideal. This nonce form should be given a name, and should be imitated. The author has found good use for it, and so should others. Reply
Daniel Howard September 21, 2025 That’s very kind of you, Mr. Anderson. The form is a modified version of the one used by Shelley in his ode ‘To a Skylark’. I retained its rhyme scheme but changed the metre here and there. I dropped the final unstressed syllable required of lines written in trochaic metre and did not include any pure iambic lines, whereas Shelley added a line of iambic hexameter to finish off each stanza. I chose the trochaic foot to convey the immediacy and excitement of the sentiment. The problem with the trochee, however, is that it can sometimes sound unnatural or stiff; hence why I occasionally made the first foot of certain lines an anapaest. Reply
C.B. Anderson September 22, 2025 That’s all good, Daniel, but don’t expect many persons to experience the subtleties of meter or even care about it. Metrical irregularities usually don’t convey anything, except from an author to himself. Words and meanings carry most of the weight.
Paul A. Freeman September 22, 2025 I was reminded of the book and the film, ‘The Secret Garden’. Magical! Thanks for the read. Reply
Mary Jane Myers September 22, 2025 Dear Daniel Bravo! A wonderful poem. Images are magical. I’m intrigued by your experimental form: quintains consisting of 4 lines of the catalectic trochaic trimeter followed by a fifth line that I read as catalectic trochaic hexameter. There is an exact rhyme scheme: ABABB. (Note: in several places you substitute complete trochaics: as in stanza 4, lines 1 and 3 “a” rhymes; stanza 5, lines 2, 4 and 5 “b” rhymes; and stanza 7, lines 1 and 3″a” rhymes.) Each stanza mimics almost-natural speech: a lover importuning his beloved to run away with him to an idyllic unspoiled natural place. He is rhapsodizing in rhymes–he’s so enthusiastic! I’m fascinated by the syllabic count also: for the most part, 4 lines of 5 syllables, followed by a final line of 11 syllables, for a total of 31–which (coincidentally?) the syllabic count of a traditional Japanese tanka, used in all those famous love letters in Tales of Genji. I researched trochaic trimeter–found almost nothing about it in English language poetics–but the Russians seem to use it (?!) and often in a fairy-tale context. So for example: Pasternak’s Dr. Zhivago, Zhivago composes a fairy-tale poem for Lara about a knight rescuing his lady-love, when the lovers hide at Varykino during the winter (in the movie, a winter wonderland). Here’s a link to that poem: (Poem 13 in this collection): https://www.pnreview.co.uk/archive/emfromem-the-poems-of-yuri-zhivagoem-translated-by-richard-pevear-and-larissa-volokhonskyem/6099 In any event, the poem is wonderful. What I especially love is the way the plants and animals are helpful to the lovers. I was especially charmed by the lines: We will live on honey, Heifers full of milk, And the spider’s wish to weave us webs of silk. And then that lovely Stanza 9, where the rabbits and turtles arrive to “marvel.”! Mary Jane Reply
