As valentines day approaches, I found this to be appropriate. A poem by my ancestor (by marriage) – Robert Burns.
How blest has my time been, what joys have I known,
Since wedlock’s soft bondage made Jessie my own!
So joyful my heart is, so easy my chain,
That freedom is tasteless, and roving a pain.
Through walks grown with woodbines, as often we stray,
Around us our boys and girls frolic and play:
How pleasing their sport is the wanton ones see,
And borrow their looks from my Jessie and me.
To try her sweet temper, oft-times am I seen,
In revels all day with the nymphs on the green;
Though painful my absence, my doubts she beguiles,
And meets me at night with complaisance and smiles.
What though on her cheeks the rose loses its hue,
Her wit and her humour bloom all the year through:
Time still, as he flies, adds increase to her truth,
And gives to her mind what he steals from her youth.
Ye shepherds so gay, who make lover to ensnare,
And cheat with false vows the too credulous fair,
In search of true pleasure how vainly you roam;
To hold it for life, you must find it at home.
That one’s by Edward Moore, not Burns.