| Alfred H. Miles, ed. Women Poets of the Nineteenth Century. 1907. | | | Lyrics and Verse Tales.
II. “Thank You” | | By Emily H. Hickey (1845–1924) |
| | | | “Comme vous êtes bon …” |
| “Non, je t’aime, |
| Voilà tout.” |
| VICTOR HUGO |
WHY do you thank me, dear; | |
| Say I am kind? | |
| Sometimes, alas, I fear | |
| You must be blind. | |
| |
| Say, does the sun give thanks | 5 |
| To the flowers that lift | |
| Glad faces on hedgerow banks | |
| In the light, his gift? | |
| |
| Are thanks for your right hand meet | |
| When it serves your need? | 10 |
| Do you ever bless your feet | |
| Because of their speed? | |
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| Do you thank your eyes that see, | |
| Or your ears that hear? | |
| Then why give thanks to me, | 15 |
| My dear, my dear? | |
| |
| Do you know that you, yes, you | |
| Are light to mine eyes? | |
| I love you, love you true— | |
| How otherwise? | 20 |
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| You let me into your heart, | |
| Do you not know? | |
| You made me of life a part | |
| A while ago. | |
| |
| What matters what I may do, | 25 |
| Or what I may give? | |
| You know I would die for you, | |
| As for you I live. | |
| |
| Then let me breathe with your breath, | |
| To your need respond, | 30 |
| Till we come to the gates of death | |
| And the strange beyond. | | | | |
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