Roy Croft (pseudonym (1907 - 1973) | American |
The poem is actually by Mary Carolyn Davies. It was misattributed to the pseudonym "Roy Croft" in a 1936 anthology entitled Best Loved Poems of American People edited by a Hazel Felleman, and published by Doubleday and appears without further attribution in The Family Book of Best Loved Poems, edited by David L. George and published in 1952 by Doubleday & Company, Inc., then of Garden City, New York. Felleman corrected the mistake in her column for the New York Times Book Review, "Queries and Answers," in 1943, where she noted that "Davies is a resident of New York City and is the author of 'Love,' a poem that has been erroneously attributed to Roy Croft."
I love you,
Not only for what you are,
But for what I am
When I am with you.
I love you
Not only for what
You have made of yourself,
But for what
You are making of me.
I love you
For ignoring the possibilities
Of the fool in me
And for laying firm hold
Of the possibilities for good.
Why do I love you?
I love you
For closing your eyes
To the discords—
And for adding to the music in me
By worshipful listening.
I love you because you
Are helping me to make
Of the lumber of my life
Not a tavern
But a temple;
And out of the words
Of my every day
Not a reproach
But a song.
I love you
Because you have done
More than any creed
To make me happy.
You have done it
Without a word,
Without a touch,
Without a sign.
You have done it
Just be being yourself.
After all
Perhaps that is what
Love means.