Poetry Archives

I love thee for the soul that shines
  Within thine eyes’ soft beaming,
From out whose depths the prisoned fires
  Of intellect are gleaming.

I love thee for the mind that soars
  Beyond earth’s narrow keeping,
That measures suns, and stars, and worlds,
  Through boundless limits sweeping.

I love thee for the voice whose power
  Can in my heart awaken
To passioned life each slumbering chord
  The ruder tones have shaken.

Thou ne’er, perchance, mayst feel the chain
  With which this love has bound thee,
Nor dream thee of the hand that flung
  Its glittering links around thee.

And vainly mayst thou deem the task
  Thy captive bounds to sever—
Who madly dates to love thee now
  Will love thee on forever.