Robert Frost-The Poems

Love and a Question

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 For a shelter for the night,

And he turned and looked at the road afar Without a window light.

The bridegroom came forth into the porch With,

'Let us look at the sky,

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;

'Stranger, I wish I knew.

' 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.

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.

The bridegroom thought it little to give A dole of bread, a purse,

A heartfelt prayer for the poor of God,

Or for the rich a curse;

But whether or not a man was asked To mar the love of two By harboring woe in the bridal house,

The bridegroom wished he knew.