"AH! we love each other well, Better far than words can tell," Said my charmer; "but in vain Are my efforts to explain How it happened. Tell me now, Dearest, of the why and how! Since the fact we cannot doubt, Tell me how it came about." Well, my darling, I will try To explain the how and why, (Speaking for myself, not you; That, of course, I cannot do.) Not your brilliant mind alone Could have thus enthralled my own; Not the charm of every grace Beaming from your sunny face; Not your voice, though music be Less melodious to me; Not your kisses, sweeter far Than the drops of Hybla are; None of these, from each apart, Could have so enchained my heart; Nay, not e'en the wondrous whole Could have fixed my wayward soul; Had not love -- your love -- prevailed All the rest had surely failed. There! you have the reason, dear; Is the explanation clear? Ah! I own it seems but weak; Half the why is yet to seek; Only this I surely know, Never woman witched me so! Happy let my charmer be, Since her eyes in mine may see Flashes of the hidden fire (Half devotion, half desire), And her ears may hear the sighs That from yearning love arise, Whispering, in the fondest tone, "Take me! I am all your own!" | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...AUTUMN SONG by KATHERINE MANSFIELD COLLEGE DRINKING SONG by GEORGE SANTAYANA HEREDITY by THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH RUMORS FROM AN AEOLIAN HARP by HENRY DAVID THOREAU EIGHTEEN SIXTY-ONE by WALT WHITMAN TO WAKEN AN OLD LADY by WILLIAM CARLOS WILLIAMS |