Fairest, Sweetest, Dearest

'Say, by what name can I impart
My sense, dear girl, of what thou art?
Nay, though to frown thou darest,
I'll say thou art of girls the pride:
And though that modest lip may chide,
Mary! I'll call thee "FAIREST."

'Yet no—that word can but express
The soft and winning loveliness
In which the sight thou meetest.
But not thy heart, thy temper too,
So good, so sweet—Ha! that will do!
Mary! I'll call thee "SWEETEST."

'But "fairest, sweetest," vain would be
To speak the love I feel for thee:
Why smilest thou as thou hearest?'
'Because,' she cried, 'one little name
Is all I wish from thee to claim—
That precious name is "DEAREST."'