If thou must love me...

If thou must love me, let it be for nought

 Except for love’s sake only. Do not say, 

 “I love her for her smile—her look—her way 

 Of speaking gently,—for a trick of thought 

 That falls in well with mine, and certes brought 

 A sense of pleasant ease on such a day”— 

 For these things in themselves, Belovèd, may 

 Be changed, or change for thee—and love, so wrought, 

May be unwrought so. Neither love me for 

 Thine own dear pity’s wiping my cheeks dry: 

 A creature might forget to weep, who bore 

 Thy comfort long, and lose thy love thereby! 

 But love me for love’s sake, that evermore 

 Thou mayst love on, through love’s eternity.

Elizabeth Barrett Browning, 1806 - 1861

But love me for love's sake, that evermore 

Thou mayst love on, through love's eternity.