FROM A COMMERCIAL LOVER

If I were but a syndicate,
And love were merchandise,
I'd buy it at the market rate,
And hold it for a rise.
And should the price of all this love
Bound upward like a ball,
And reach 1000 or above,
Still you should have it all.

IV

FROM AN UNCERTAIN MARKSMAN

I send you two kisses
Wrapped up in a rhyme;
From Love's warm abysses
I send you two kisses;
If one of them misses
Please wait till next time,
And I'll send you three kisses
Wrapped up in a rhyme.

V

FROM A CONCHOLOGIST

Were I a murm'ring ocean shell
Pressed close against your ear,
My constant whisperings would tell
A story sweet to hear.
I'd make the message from the sea
Love's tidings on the shore,
And I would woo with words so true
That you could ask no more.
So if some silvern nautilus
Lay close beside your cheek,
And you should hear a language dear
Unto the heart I seek,
You'll know within the simple shell
That murmurs o'er and o'er
I send to you a love more true
Than e'er was breathed before.

VI

FROM A HYPERBOLIST