Arthur Quiller-Couch, comp. The Oxford Book of Victorian Verse. 1922.
My LovesJohn Stuart Blackie (18091895)
N
Name the waves on all the seas,
Name the notes of all the groves,
Thus thou namest all my loves.
Maiden modest, virgin bold;
Tiny beauties and the tall—
Earth has room enough for all!
Mary grave or Lucy gay?
She who half her charms conceals,
She who flashes while she feels?
Why should fair be mine or thine?
If I praise a tulip, why
Should I pass the primrose by?
Meting beauty by the rule:
Pallas? Juno? Venus?—he
Should have chosen all the three!