The Poet's Secret

The poet’s secret I must know, If that will calm my restless mind. I hail the seasons as they go, I woo the sunshine, brave the wind. I scan the lily and the rose, I nod to every nodding tree, I follow every stream that flows, And wait beside the steadfast sea. I question melancholy eyes, I touch the lips of women fair: Their lips and eyes may make me wise, But what I seek for is not there. In vain I watch the day and night, In vain the world through space may roll; I never see the mystic light Which fills the poet’s happy soul. Through life I hear the rhythmic flow Whose meaning into song must turn; Revealing all he longs to know, The secret each alone must learn.

Collection: 
English
Elizabeth Stoddard

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