--_Byron_.

Thou art my life, my love, my heart,
The very eyes of me,
And hast command of every part,
To live and die for thee.
--_Herrick_.

Give me but what that ribband bound,
Take all the rest the world goes round.
--_Waller_.

But I am tied to very thee
By every thought I have;
Thy face I only care to see
Thy heart I only crave.
--_Sedley_.

I see her in the dewy flowers,
Sae lovely sweet and fair:
I hear her voice in ilka bird,
Wi' music charm the air:
There's not a bonnie flower that springs
By fountain, shaw, or green;
There's not a bonny bird that sings,
But minds me o' my Jean.
--_Burns_.

For nothing this wide universe I call
Save thou, my rose: in it thou art my all.
--_Shakspere_.

Like Alexander I will reign,
And I will reign alone,
My thoughts shall evermore disdain
A rival on my throne.
--_James Graham_.

Love, well thou know'st no partnerships allows.
Cupid averse, rejects divided vows.
--_Prior_.

O that the desert were my dwelling-place,
With one fair spirit for my minister,
That I might all forget the human race
And, hating no one, love but only her.
--_Byron_.

BUTTERFLY LOVE

The imperative desire for an absolute monopoly of one chosen girl,
body and soul--_and one only_--is an essential, invariable ingredient
of romantic love. Sensual love, on the contrary, aims rather at a
monopoly of all attractive women--or at least as many as possible.
Sensual love is not an exclusive passion for one; it is a fickle
feeling which, like a giddy butterfly, flits from flower to flower,
forgetting the fragrance of the lily it left a moment ago in the sweet
honey of the clover it enjoys at this moment. The Persian poet Sadi,
says (_Bustan_, 12), "Choose a fresh wife every spring or New Year's
Day; for the almanack of last year is good for nothing." Anacreon
interprets Greek love for us when he sings:

"Can'st count the leaves in a forest, the waves in the sea?
Then tell me how oft I have loved. Twenty girls i