A Valentine's Day Mystery: Just the One

Just the One
Just fair enough to be pretty,
Just gentle enough to be sweet,
Just saucy enough to be witty,
Just dainty enough to be neat.

Just tall enough to be graceful,
Just slight enough for a fay,
Just dressy enough to be tasteful,
Just merry enough to be gay.

Just tears enough to be tender,
Just sighs enough to be sad,
Just soft enough to remember,
Your heart through the cadence made glad.

Just meek enough for submission,
Just bold enough to be brave,
Just pride enough for ambition,
Just thoughtful enough to be grave.

A tongue that can talk without harming,
Just mischief enough to tease,
Manners pleasant enough to be charming,
That put you at once at your ease.

Generous enough, and kind-hearted,
Pure as the angels above;
Ah, from her may I never be parted,
For such is the maiden I adore.

American Magazine, February 1914.

Like our other poem plucked from The People's Voice, this one is also unattributed. Interestingly, it seems to have several versions, and no one attributed author. One version in The Family Herald has an enigmatic "E.J.W." attribution. Another version was set to music, apparently by Alfred Von Ruchow. It has variously been called "My Pet," "The Girl For Me," "The Lover's Paragon," or the title above. The author of the poem may have wished to stay anonymous, and due to that, the poem was taken and altered by others and republished without attribution. In any event, I hope you enjoy this small bonus for Valentine's Day.

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Relic on the Lethe

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