To challenge favour at thy gracious hands,
That I should dare to speak: nor any words
That man hath e’er invented, to combine
In sentences that mock mortality,
Are proud enough to tell thee; therefore—
I say in plainest speech, Almeh, I love thee.
For thy goodwill I thank thee: but my fate,
If thou dost love me not, or art another’s,—
Life or death, misery and imprisonment,
Slavery or freedom, count as little with me,