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| HE loves not well whose love is bold! | |
| I would not have thee come too nigh: | |
| The sun’s gold would not seem pure gold | |
| Unless the sun were in the sky; | |
| To take him thence and chain him near | 5 |
| Would make his beauty disappear. | |
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| He keeps his state,—keep thou in thine, | |
| And shine upon me from afar! | |
| So shall I bask in light divine, | |
| That falls from love’s own guiding star; | 10 |
| So shall thy eminence be high, | |
| And so my passion shall not die. | |
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| But all my life shall reach its hands | |
| Of lofty longing toward thy face, | |
| And be as one who speechless stands | 15 |
| In rapture at some perfect grace! | |
| My love, my hope, my all shall be | |
| To look to heaven and look to thee! | |
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| Thy eyes shall be the heavenly lights; | |
| Thy voice the gentle summer breeze, | 20 |
| What time it sways, on moonlit nights, | |
| The murmuring tops of leafy trees; | |
| And I shall touch thy beauteous form | |
| In June’s red roses, rich and warm. | |
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| But thou thyself shalt come not down | 25 |
| From that pure region far above; | |
| But keep thy throne and wear thy crown, | |
| Queen of my heart and queen of love! | |
| A monarch in thy realm complete, | |
| And I a monarch—at thy feet! | 30 |
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