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Home  »  An American Anthology, 1787–1900  »  1618 A Sonnet

Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). An American Anthology, 1787–1900. 1900.

By Alice DuerMiller

1618 A Sonnet

DEAR, if you love me, hold me most your friend,

Chosen from out the many who would bear

Your gladness gladly—heavily your care;

Who best can sympathize, best comprehend,

Where others fail; who, breathless to the end,

Follows your tale of joy or of despair.

Hold me your counsellor, because I dare

To lift my hand to guide you, that I lend

My love to help you. And I would you knew

That I am fair enough to win men’s hearts,

If so I willed; yet honor me above

All other women, since I am too true

To trap you with my sex’s smaller arts.

Deem me all these, but love me as your love.