AUTOGRAPH MANUSCRIPT SIGNED (AMS)

Sorrento, 10 March 1868. Manuscript. Faint creases, light staining to verso. Fine. On a 5" x 7-1/2" piece of paper Taylor has written his complete poem "Proposal" and dated and SIGNED it below. The poem was first published in the November 1859 issue of HARPER'S MONTHLY and is one of the best known by the Quaker poet. (truncated)

The violet loves a sunny bank,
The cowslip loves the lea;
The scarlet creeper loves the elm,
But I love—thee.

The sunshine kisses mount and vale,
The stars, they kiss the sea;
The west winds kiss the clover bloom,
But I kiss—thee!

The oriole weds his mottled mate;
The lily's bride o' the bee;
Heaven's marriage-ring is round the earth—
Shall I wed thee? (Inventory #: 021016)