University of Virginia Library

LOVE'S REASONS.

Tell me why the forky fire,
Darting dire
From its cloud-home dark profound,
Seeks the ground;
Tell me why the magnet's soul
Finds the pole;
Why the warm-rubb'd amber wings
Stirless things.
Tell me why the pungent power
Of the sour,
Harshly wedding, this mate chooses,
That refuses;
Why the fragrant birch, with grace,
Decks the face
Of the bare crag; why the willow
Loves the billow;
Why to-day the gentle West
Fans the breast;
Rudely why the North did bray
Yesterday.
Tell me why thy own self art
What thou art
Now, not Pompey, Cicero,
Long ago;
Why, with eager agile start,
Thy strong heart
Bounds to-day, to-morrow why
Thou must die:
Tell me this, and I will tell
Why I love my lov'd one well.