Color (Cullen)/To One Who Said Me Nay

by Countee Cullen

To One Who Said Me Nay

THIS much the gods vouchsafe today:
 That we two lie in the clover,
Watching the heavens dip and sway,
 With galleons sailing over.

This much is granted for an hour:
 That we are young and tender,
That I am bee and you are flower,
 Honcy-mouthed and swaying slender.

This sweet of sweets is ours now:
 To wander through the land,
Plucking an apple from its bough
 To toss from hand to hand.

No thing is certain, joy nor sorrow,
 Except the hour we know it;
Oh, wear my heart today; tomorrow
 Who knows where the winds will blow it?