IF thou must love me, let it be for naught <br /> Except for love's sake only. Do not say, <br /> 'I love her for her smile--her look--her way <br />Of speaking gently,--for a trick of thought <br />That falls in well with mine, and certes brought <br /> A sense of pleasant ease on such a day'-- <br /> For these things in themselves, Beloved, may <br />Be changed, or change for thee--and love, so wrought, <br />May be unwrought so. Neither love me for <br /> Thine own dear pity's wiping my cheeks dry: <br />A creature might forget to weep, who bore <br /> Thy comfort long, and lose thy love thereby! <br />But love me for love's sake, that evermore <br /> Thou mayst love on, through love's eternity.<br /><br />Elizabeth Barrett Browning<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/sonnets-from-the-portuguese-iv/
