Don't give me love
if I don't deserve
if you do
for life such
I'll preserve:
untainted
and time
will bear witness

love-- only a word
but pure and sacred
as a prayer said
in a temple
or a church

how brief
life is
a frail leave
on a stem
to be shaken
by the winds
and fallen
easily to the sod

to you
I must come
ere it's too late

as I've been loved-
the world entire
now belongs to me:
unto you mine
I'll with my life
faithfully reciprocate