University of Virginia Library

HOW IT HAPPENED.

“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!”