Page:Negro poets and their poems (IA negropoetstheirp00kerl).pdf/147

Rh prove his kinship to the poetic tribe of which Lovelace and Suckling were conspicuous members:

Ask me why I love you, dear, And I will ask the rose Why it loves the dews of Spring At the Winter’s close; Why the blossoms’ nectared sweets Loved by questing bee,— I will gladly answer you, If they answer me. Ask me why I love you, dear, I will ask the flower Why it loves the Summer sun, Or the Summer shower; I will ask the lover’s heart Why it loves the moon, Or the star-besprinkled skies In a night in June. Ask me why I love you, dear, I will ask the vine Why its tendrils trustingly Round the oak entwine; Why you love the mignonette Better than the rue,— If you will but answer me, I will answer you.