NOT by one measure mayst thou mete our love; For how should I be loved as I love thee?-- I, graceless, joyless, lacking absolutely All gifts that with thy queenship best behove;-- Thou, throned in every heart's elect alcove, And crowned with garlands culled from every tree, Which for no head but thine, by Love's decree, All beauties and all mysteries interwove. But here thine eyes and lips yield soft rebuke:-- "Then only," (say'st thou) "could I love thee less, When thou couldst doubt my love's equality." Peace, sweet! If not to sum but worth we look,-- Thy heart's transcendence, not my heart's excess,-- Then more a thousandfold thou lov'st than I. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...A CHANNEL PASSAGE by RUPERT BROOKE A BOOK OF AIRS: SONG 3. AMARYLLIS by THOMAS CAMPION FIRST FIG by EDNA ST. VINCENT MILLAY TO A SKYLARK (1) by WILLIAM WORDSWORTH THE MELTING POT by BERTON BRALEY ASTROPHEL'S SONG OF PHILLIDA AND CORYDON by NICHOLAS BRETON THE LITTLE PLANT by KATE LOUISE BROWN THE WANDERER: 5. IN HOLLAND: MISANTHROPOS by EDWARD ROBERT BULWER-LYTTON |