No, no, fair heretic, it needs must be But an ill love in me, And worse for thee: For were it in my power To love thee now this hour More than I did the last, 'Twould then so fall I might not love at all: Love that can flow, and can admit increase, Admits as well an ebb, and may grow less. True love is still the same: the torrid zones, And those more frigid ones, It must not know; For love grown cold or hot Is lust or friendship, not The thing we have, For that's a flame would die, Held down or up too high. Then think I love more than I can express, And would love more, could I but love thee less. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...ONLY A WOMAN by DINAH MARIA MULOCK CRAIK GREEK SONG: 1. THE STORM OF DELPHI by FELICIA DOROTHEA HEMANS TO HIS COY MISTRESS by ANDREW MARVELL PSALM 81 by OLD TESTAMENT BIBLE AN EPILOGUE TO THE STEALING OF DIONYSOS: IACHOS SPEAKING by GORDON BOTTOMLEY THE MAID OF KIRCONNEL by PHOEBE CARY LINES TO A BEAUTIFUL SPRING IN A VILLAGE by SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE |