Poem of the Week
Every week, on this page, we will show a different poem from a selection of poems chosen by prominent members of the Robert Graves Society.

NEVER SUCH LOVE

Twined together and, as is customary,

For words of rapture groping, they

'Never such love,' swore, 'ever before was!'

Contrast with all loves that had failed or staled

Registered their own as love indeed.

And was this not to blab idly

The heart's fated inconstancy?

Better in love to seal the love-sure lips,

For truly love was before words were,

And no word given, no word broken.

When the name 'love' is uttered

(Love, the near-honourable malady

With which in greed and haste they

Each other do infect and curse)

Or, worse, is written down. . . .

Wise after the event, by love withered,

A 'never more!' most frantically

Sorrow and shame would proclaim

Such as, they'd swear, never before were:

True lovers even in this.

[From Collected Poems (1938)]

BOOKS

Complete Poems in One Volume

Robert's complete set of poems edited by Beryl Graves and Dunstan Ward and published in 3 volumes over the period 1995-1999  is now available in a single-volume hardcover, paperback or eBook publication from Carcanet and Penguin.