James Russell Lowell

Song (What reck I of the stars, when I)

                   I.

  What reck I of the stars, when I
    May gaze into thine eyes,
  O'er which the brown hair flowingly
    Is parted maidenwise
  From thy pale forehead, calm and bright,
  Over thy cheeks so rosy white?


                  II.

  What care I for the red moon-rise?
    Far liefer would I sit
  And watch the joy within thine eyes
    Gush up at sight of it;
  Thyself my queenly moon shall be,
  Ruling my heart's deep tides for me!


                 III.

  What heed I if the sky be blue?
    So are thy holy eyes,
  And bright with shadows ever new
    Of changeful sympathies,
  Which in thy soul's unruffled deep
  Rest evermore, but never sleep.