Poca favilla gran fiamma seconda. Dante
Ogni altra cosa, ogni pensier va fore,
E sol ivi con voi rimansi amore. Petrarca
I loved you first: but afterwards your love
Outsoaring mine, sang such a loftier song
As drowned the friendly cooings of my dove.
Which owes the other most? my love was long,
And yours one moment seemed to wax more strong;
I loved and guessed at you, you construed me
And loved me for what might or might not be
Nay, weights and measures do us both a wrong.
For verily love knows not mine or thine;
With separate I and thou free love has done,
For one is both and both are one in love:
Rich love knows nought of thine that is not mine;
Both have the strength and both the length thereof,
Both of us, of the love which makes us one.
"I loved you first: but afterwards your love"
written byChristina Georgina Rossetti
© Christina Georgina Rossetti