| Higginson and Bigelow, comps. American Sonnets. 1891. | | | To ——.
“I love thee for thyself,—thyself alone” | | By Maria (White) Lowell (1821–1853) |
| | | I LOVE thee for thyself,—thyself alone; | |
| For that great soul, whose breath most full and rare | |
| Shall to Humanity a message bear, | |
| Flooding their dreary waste with organ tone; | |
| The Truth that in thine eyes holds starry throne | 5 |
| And coins the words that issue from thy lips, | |
| Heroic courage that meets no eclipse, | |
| And humbler virtues on thy pathway strewn,— | |
| These love I so, that if they swift uprise | |
| To sure fulfilment in more perfect spheres, | 10 |
| Still will I listen underneath the skies | |
| For thy new song, with seldom dropping tears, | |
| And midst my daily tasks of love will wait | |
| The angel Death—Guardian of Heaven’s gate. | | | | |
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