Welcome back to the Daily Poem here on Close Reeds Podcast Network. I'm David Kern. Today is

February 17th, 2020, but I am recording it on February 14th, 2020, which of course is Valentine's Day.

Now, for today's poem, I took a kind of tongue-in-teat, tongue-in-cheek approach, and I read Edgar Allen Poe's

weepy, sad, tragic ballad, as he called it, Annabelle Lee, which of course is about a young love

that ends tragically. So I'm going to read a little bit more of an earnest poem today in recognition

of Valentine's Day, although it also comes from a story that ends in a, that is young love

that ends tragically, and that is from Romeo and Juliet. This is a selection from Act 1, Scene 5. And in Act 1, Scene 5, Romeo has just seen

Juliet, but Juliet's kinsman Tibalt decides that because Romeo is from the other family

that he wants to do him some harm, Capulet, meanwhile, tells him not to do that,

and Romeo then approaches Juliet, and they have the interaction that I'm going to read here.

There are 15 lines in what I'm going to say. The first four are Romeo, then the next four are

Juliet's, then one of Romeo, then one of Juliet, then two of Romeo, then one of

Romeo. So there's a bit of a back and forth in those 15 lines, and I'll talk about that in a second.

But this is how it goes. Again, this is from Act 1, Scene 5, from Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare.

Romeo, if I profane with my unworthiest hand, this holy shrine, the gentle sin is this.

My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand to smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss.

Juliet,

Good pilgrim, you do wrong your hand too much,

which manually devotion shows in this.

For saints have hands that pilgrim's hands do touch,

and palm to palm is Holy Palmer's kiss.

Romeo, have not saints' lips

...