I Love You

I Love You

By Ella Wheeler Wilcox

I love your lips(lip) when they’re wet(wet) with wine(wīn)
And red with a wild(wīld) desire;
I love your eyes when the lovelight lies
Lit with a passionate(ˈpaSH(ə)nət) fire.
I love your arms when the warm white flesh(fleSH)
Touches mine in a fond(fänd) embrace(əmˈbrās);
I love your hair(her) when the strands(strand) enmesh(inˈmeSH)
Your kisses against my face.

Not for me the cold, calm(kä(l)m) kiss
Of a virgin’s(ˈvərjən) bloodless love;
Not for me the saint’s(sānt) white bliss(blis),
Nor the heart of a spotless(ˈspätləs) dove(dəv).
But give me the love that so freely gives
And laughs at the whole world’s blame(blām),
With your body so young and warm in my arms,
It sets my poor heart aflame(əˈflām).

So kiss me sweet(swēt) with your warm wet mouth,
Still fragrant(ˈfrāɡrənt) with ruby(ˈro͞obē) wine,
And say with a fervor(ˈfərvər) born of the South
That your body and soul are mine.
Clasp(klasp) me close in your warm young arms,
While the pale(pāl) stars shine above,
And we’ll live our whole young lives away
In the joys of a living love.

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/50334/i-love-you-56d22d5628559