I Love Thee

The Poetry Piece for the month of May is a handcrafted bracelet named for the poem, I Love Thee by Eliza Acton (1799-1859). The bracelet is located in the Beadshaper's Boutique on the second floor of the Andersonville Galleria at 5247 N Clark Street in Chicago.

To see more of the Beadshaper's work, click Beadshaper . If you don't live near Chicago and don't plan to visit soon, the Beadshaper can make a similar bracelet for you (never exactly the same because it is hand made). You can contact her through the Beadshaper web site by clicking Contact

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I Love Thee
I love thee, as I love the calm
Of sweet, star-lighted hours!
I love thee, as I love the balm
Of early jes'mine flow'rs.
I love thee, as I love the last
Rich smile of fading day,
Which lingereth, like the look we cast,
On rapture pass'd away.
I love thee as I love the tone
Of some soft-breathing flute
Whose soul is wak'd for me alone,
When all beside is mute.

I love thee as I love the first
Young violet of the spring;
Or the pale lily, April-nurs'd,
To scented blossoming.
I love thee, as I love the full,
Clear gushings of the song,
Which lonely--sad--and beautiful--
At night-fall floats along,
Pour'd by the bul-bul forth to greet
The hours of rest and dew;
When melody and moonlight meet
To blend their charm, and hue.
I love thee, as the glad bird loves
The freedom of its wing,
On which delightedly it moves
In wildest wandering.

I love thee as I love the swell,
And hush, of some low strain,
Which bringeth, by its gentle spell,
The past to life again.
Such is the feeling which from thee
Nought earthly can allure:
'Tis ever link'd to all I see
Of gifted--high--and pure!