Thomas Humphry Ward, ed. The English Poets. 1880–1918.rnVol. IV. The Nineteenth Century: Wordsworth to Rossetti

Thomas Lovell Beddoes (1803–1849)

Song: ‘How many times do I love thee, dear?’ (from Torrismond, Sc. iii)

HOW many times do I love thee, dear?

Tell me how many thoughts there be

In the atmosphere

Of a new-fall’n year,

Whose white and sable hours appear

The latest flake of Eternity:—

So many times do I love thee, dear.

How many times do I love, again?

Tell me how many beads there are

In a silver chain

Of evening rain

Unravelled from the tumbling main

And threading the eye of a yellow star:—

So many times do I love again.