"Poem and Essay"

"Give a man"

Give a man a horse he can ride,

Give a man a boat he can sail,

And his rank and wealth, his strength and health 

On sea nor shore shall fail.

Give a man a pipe he can smoke, 

Give a man a book he can read;

And his home is a bright with a calm delight,

Though the room be poor indeed.

Give a man a girl he can love,

As I, O my love, love thee;

And his hand is great with the pulse of Fate,

At home, on land, on sea.

                                                                                                              -James Thomson-

"How Do I Love Thee?" 

How Do I Love Thee? Let me count the ways.

I love thee to the depth and breadth and height 

My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight 

For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.

I love thee to the level of everyday's

Most quite need, my son and candle-light 

I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;

I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.

I love thee with the passion put to use 

In my old griefs, and with my childhood's Faith.

I love thee with a love I seemed to lose

With my lost saints,- I love thee with the breath, 

Smiles, tears, of all my life!-and, if God choose,

I shall but love thee better after death.

                 

                                                                    -Elizabeth Barrett Browning-

 "To My Native Land"


Beloved Land, let me explain to thee
Why thought of nearing death provokes a pain;
'Tis not that I again shall never see
These Orient Isles of kindly sun and rain;
Not that the visionary spirit must 
Forego the wonders she had fondly schemed;
Not that the flesh must soon succumb to dust,
With Love's avowals only half redeemed.
O my beloved Land, whose air I breathe,
Whose bounty is my daily sustenance,
How sad to leave with nothing to bequeath,
Thy weal to serve, thy glory to enhance;
How shameful, finally, to dare to rest
My thankless dust upon thy noble breast!
   
                                                                  -Tarrosa Subido-