Poem by Edward Rowland Sill

The Mystery

I NEVER know why 't is I love thee so:
I do not think 't is that thine eyes for me
Grow bright as sudden sunshine on the sea;
Nor for thy rose-leaf lips, or breast of snow,
Or voice like quiet waters where they flow.

So why I love thee well I cannot tell:
Only it is that when thou speak'st to me
'T is thy voice speaks, and when thy face I see
It is thy face I see; and it befell
Thou wert, and I was, and I love thee well.

1. Hermione
2. Reproof of Love
3. Tempted
4. A Paradox
5. Fertility

Paul Dunbar The Mystery ("I was not; now I am--a few days hence")

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