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Anon, before 1530
Western wind, when wilt thou blow
The small rain down can rain.
Christ, if my lover were in my arms,
And I in my bed again.
The poem seemed familiar as I read it again, at the suggestion of Hilary Mantel (the English novelist, short story writer and critic, who in 2009, won the Man Booker Prize for her novel Wolf Hall). She offered this anonymous poem as her answer to The Guardian UK’s question: What is your favourite love poem?