Sonnets from the Portuguese · Sonnet 14

XIV

If thou must love me, let it be for nought

Except for love’s sake only. Do not say

“I love her for her smile⁠—her look⁠—her way

Of speaking gently⁠—for a trick of thought

That falls in well with mine, and certes brought

A sense of pleasant ease on such a day,”⁠—

For these things in themselves, Beloved, may

Be changed, or change for thee⁠—and love so wrought

May be unwrought so. Neither love me for

Thine own dear pity’s wiping my cheeks dry:

A creature might forget to weep, who bore

Thy comfort long, and lose thy love thereby.

But love me for love’s sake, that evermore

Thou mayst love on through love’s eternity.