To “A Portrait”

Pretty one,

           Witty one,

Oh who could ever doubt thee;

           Tender one,

           Slender one,

With dainty ring about thee.

           Airy one,

           Fairy one,

O, couldn’t thou ever love me?

           Highest one,

           Shyest one,

Thou art too far above me.

           Rarest one,

           Fairest one,

The painter’s soul hath found thee;

           Smiling one,

           Beguiling one,

My ring of love around thee.

Dec. 28, ‘97

Written To “A Portrait”, drawn by A.G. Larned, in (Dec. 1898) Tattler Magazine.

(A Boston publication published in 1897 and 1898. Most of the poems in this section of the collection had been dated “1898” but corrected to 1897, so the publication date he sites may have been 1897 as well?)