Has summer come without the rose,
Or left the bird behind?
Is the blue changed above thee,
O world! or am I blind?
Will you change every flower that grows,
Or only change this spot,
Where she who said, I love thee,
Now says, I love thee not?
The skies seemed true above thee,
The rose true on the tree;
...
Prune thou thy words; the thoughts control
That o’er thee swell and throng;—
They will condense within thy soul,
And change to purpose strong.
But he who lets his feelings run
In soft luxurious flow,
Shrinks when hard service must be done,
And faints at every woe.
Faith’s meanest deed more favor bears,
Where...
Anonymous translation from the Italian
IF every man’s internal care
Were written on his brow,
How many would our pity share
Who raise our envy now?
The fatal secret, when revealed,
Of every aching breast,
Would prove that only while concealed
Their lot appeared the best.
Cosmopolites without a plea
Alight in every Land
The compliments of Paradise
From those within my Hand
Their dappled Journey to themselves
A compensation fair
Knock and it shall be opened
Is their Theology
God made no act without a cause,
Nor heart without an aim,
Our inference is premature,
Our premises to blame.
So well that I can live without —
I love thee — then How well is that?
As well as Jesus?
Prove it me
That He — loved Men —
As I — love thee —
To die — without the Dying
And live — without the Life
This is the hardest Miracle
Propounded to Belief.
We'll pass without the parting
So to spare
Certificate of Absence —
Deeming where
I left Her I could find Her
If I tried —
This way, I keep from missing
Those that died.
