Say, Susan, wilt thou come with me,
In sweet community to live--
Oh heart and hand and home to thee,
A sixteenth part I'll freely give
Of all the love that swells my breast,
Of all the honor of my name,
Of worldly wealth by me possessed,
A sixteenth portion thou shalt claim.

Nay, tell me not too many share
The blessings that I offer thee;
Thou'lt find but fifteen others there,
A household happy, gay and free.
A mod'rate household, I may say;
My neighbor has as many more-
And Brother Brigham, o'er the way,
Luxuriates in forty-four.

I'll give thee whatso'er thou wilt,
So it but be a sixteenth part;
'Twould be the deepest depth of guilt,
To slight the rest who share my heart.
Then wilt thou not thy fraction yield,
To make complete my perfect bliss?
Say "yes" and let our joy be sealed,
With just the sixteenth of a kiss.

Other 19th-century Mormon poetry