Poem by William Cosmo Monkhouse

Twin-Growth

  I would not wish thee other than thou art;
  I love thee, love, so well in every part,
      That had I power to change thee
          In form or face or mind,
          I could not find
      The heart to re-arrange thee.

  For we were made to suit each other, sweet,
  Apart, uneven, but when join'd, complete,
      With powers and failings matching
          In each as strictly well
          As in some shell
      The sharp teeth interlatching.

  And so I would not have thee change, for fear
  The valves might open and gape a little, dear.
      But we are like the weather
          A-changing every day,
          And so I pray
      That we may change together —

  Change like twin shells, that nothing can estrange,
  But ever changing never feel a change:
      So grow for one another
          That each may aye present
          The complement
      That doth fulfil the other.

1. On a Young Poetess’s Grave
2. De Libris
3. The Churchyard
4. The Wake of Tim O'Hara
5. The Summer Pool

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