Just A Woman

YOU ask me why I love her;

Not a charm can you discover!

Would you see

The heart that a shut rose is,

And whose beauty ne'er uncloses

Save for me?

She is not rich or clever,

But her speeches thrill me ever,

And with bliss

My heart her whisper flutters,

Though the wisest word she utters

Is a kiss.

All evil things have shunned her,

And with a wide-eyed wonder

Is she tasked,

What lavish god has given

In her earth so much of heaven

All unasked?

She has no gifts or graces,

But the gladness in her face is

Sought of kings;

She cannot chant a measure,

But her heart with a grave pleasure

Ever sings.

Her gown is of the whitest

But the hem is soiled the slightest:

Little worth,

She has no wings to fly with,

And she prefers to hie with

Me on earth.

There is no hint of heaven

Or glimpse of deep thought even

In her eyes;

She is warm and she is human,

Just a weak and wilful woman —

Not too wise.

Her thousand beauties singing,

I have not said how clinging

Are her arms;

But, not loved and not the lover

Dare you ever hope discover

Half her charms?