Poem by James Russell Lowell

Impartiality

                  I.

    I cannot say a scene is fair
  Because it is beloved of thee,
  But I shall love to linger there,
  For sake of thy dear memory;
  I would not be so coldly just
  As to love only what I must.


                 II.

    I cannot say a thought is good
  Because thou foundest joy in it;
  Each soul must choose its proper food
  Which Nature hath decreed most fit;
  But I shall ever deem it so
  Because it made thy heart o'erflow.


                III.

    I love thee for that thou art fair;
  And that thy spirit joys in aught
  Createth a new beauty there,
  With thine own dearest image fraught;
  And love, for others' sake that springs,
  Gives half their charm to lovely things.

1. Fancies about a Rosebud, Pressed in an Old Copy of Spenser
2. My Friend, Adown Life's Valley, Hand in Hand
3. Verse Cannot Say How Beautiful Thou Art
4. Sayest Thou, Most Beautiful, That Thou Wilt Wear
5. “No More But So?”

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