“Tannhäuser only!” Was this modesty?
Listen. You loved me when I was a child;
And, in my childish way, I looked to you,
Loved sitting at your knee and toying with
The great cross-hilt, or watching how the steel
Outshone the jewelled scabbard when you drew
(You would not let me touch) the delicate blade
Half out: and also fingering your harp,
Picking child’s tunes out, while you curled my hair
Between two fingers, dreamily enough!