| John Donne (1572–1631). The Poems of John Donne. 1896. | | | | Appendix B. Poems hitherto Uncollected | | The Constant Lover |
| | | I KNOW as well as you she is not fair, | |
| Nor hath she sparkling eyes, nor curling hair, | |
| Nor can she boast of virtue, or of truth, | |
| Nor anything about her, but her youth. | |
| I know she cannot love, or, if she do, | 5 |
| Alas, ’twill be but for an hour or two; | |
| For she a woman is; I know in vain | |
| I spend my vows and tears, which down do rain | |
| From my unhappy eyes, and to no end | |
| I know I verses write and letters send; | 10 |
| For she hath vow’d my death shall never move her; | |
| Yet for all this I cannot choose but love her. | |
| Yet am I not so blind as some men be, | |
| Who vow and swear they little Cupid see | |
| In their fair mistress’ eyes, and say there dwell | 15 |
| Roses about her cheeks that do excell | |
| Rubies and coral, as if love were built | |
| In fading red and white, the body’s gilt; | |
| As if they could not love, unless they tell | |
| Where, how, and in what place their loves do dwell. | 20 |
| Vain heretics they are, for I love more | |
| Than ever any did, that told wherefore. | |
| Then do not trouble me, nor ask me why; | |
| ’Tis because she is she, and I am I. | | | | |
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