Reasons

Yea, why I love thee let my heart repeat:

I look upon thy face and then divine

How men could die for beauty, such as thine,—

Deeming it sweet

To lay my life and manhood at thy feet,

And for a word, a glance,

Do deeds of old romance.

Yea, why I love thee let my heart unfold:

I look into thy heart and then I know

The wondrous poetry of the long-ago,

The Age of Gold,

That speaks strange music, that is old, so old,

Yet young, as when‘ t was born,

With all the youth of morn.

Yea, why I love thee let my heart conclude:

I look into thy soul and realize

The undiscovered meaning of the skies,—

That long have wooed

The world with far ideals that elude,—

Out of whose dreams, maybe,

God shapes reality.