  Illustrated I I love Bessie and she loves me— Bonnie Bessie, who lives by the sea, Sweet and lovely as lass can be; White and rosy, with eyes of blue, Luminous eyes, like globes of dew,— You see the morning firmament through! Light and grace in her motion free, Sweetest lady of all I see, For I love Bessie and she loves me! Some have houses, and some have stocks, And some have treasure in veinÉd rocks, And some heap gold in an iron box; Cattle and horses and sheep have some; For another his great ships go and come, And a hundred mills for his brother hum; But I, who have only an eye to see And a heart to bless her, can happier be, For I love Bessie and she loves me! woman holding open book with kitten asleep on it One flaunts a title before his name, And one behind his,—both for the same,— Baggage checked to the Station of Fame! Office and honors, ribbons and fees, Some for those, and others for these, Wrestle and run in the mire to their knees; But I, with only a name that she Makes musical, can happier be, For I love Bessie and she loves me! My lady is eight years old to-day, A stave of music that danced away In a fairy's form,—a morning ray Involved in vapors of misty pearl, That flushed and throbbed in a dainty whirl, Till it stepped to earth a living girl, With the sun-steeped mist yet rippling free, For her golden hair! my bliss to be, For I love Bessie and she loves me! I see by the glass that Time has tossed Over my locks his powdery frost; But whoot, old man, your labor is lost! For every day you lessen the way Between me and my delicate fay, My bonny, bounding Bessie Grey; Years may whiten what white may be, But the heart she lightens is young as she, For I love Bessie and she loves me! |
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