Classic Poem

Jar 1. Your lips are like the red, red rose.
Jar 2. Your silken hair is like the night.
Jar 3. Your breast is whiter than the snows.
Jar 4. You are a phantom of delight.

Jar 5. I am the needle, you the pole.
Jar 6. I am the singer, you the song.
Jar 7. I am the body, you the soul.
Jar 8. Oh, love me little, love me long!

Jar 9. You are too fair for mortal speech.
Jar 10. You are the apple of my eye.
Jar 11. You are a pippin, you're a peach.
Jar 12. And I shall love you till I die.

These thoughts are countless as the twinkling stars;
I give them to you freely—help yourself.
My words, Beloved, are as little jars
For you to take and put upon a shelf.

Index and number them, from A to Z;
Range them in ordered rows, alow, above.
These jars I give you, Sweet, and you shall be
The Keeper of the Cannery of Love.