I
FROM A BIBLIOPHILE
Lyke some choise booke thou arte toe mee,
Bound all so daintilie;
And 'neath the covers faire
Are contents true and rare.
Ne wolde I looke
Ne reade inne any other booke
If I belyke could find therein the charte
And indice to thy hearte.
The Great Wise Authour made but one
Of this edition, then was don;
And were this onlie copie mine,
Then wolde I write therein, "My Valentyne."
II
FROM AN INCONSTANT-CONSTANT
(After Henri Murger)
Though I love many maidens fair
As fondly as a heart may dare,
Yet still are you the only one
True goddess of my pantheon.
And though my life is like a song,
Each maid a stanza, clear and strong,
Yet always I return again
To you who are the sweet refrain.
III
FROM A COMMERCIAL LOVER
If I were but a syndicate,
And love were merchandise,
I'd buy it at the market rate,
And hold it for a rise.
And should the price of all this love
Bound upward like a ball,
And reach 1000 or above,
Still you should have it all.
IV
FROM AN UNCERTAIN MARKSMAN
I send you two kisses
Wrapped up in a rhyme;
From Love's warm abysses
I send you two kisses;
If one of them misses
Please wait till next time,
And I'll send you three kisses
Wrapped up in a rhyme.
V
FROM A CONCHOLOGIST
Were I a murm'ring ocean shell
Pressed close against your ear,
My constant whisperings would tell
A story sweet to hear.
I'd make the message from the sea
Love's tidings on the shore,
And I would woo with words so true
That you could ask no more.
So if some silvern nautilus
Lay close beside your cheek,
And you should hear a language dear
Unto the heart I seek,
You'll know within the simple shell
That murmurs o'er and o'er
I send to you a love more true
Than e'er was breathed before.
VI
FROM A HYPERBOLIST
Take all the love that e'er was told
Since first the world began,
Increase it twenty thousand-fold
(If mathematics can),
Add all the love the world shall see
Till Gabriel's final call,
And when compared with mine 'twill be
Infinitesimal.