University of Virginia Library


735

THE HUNGER OF THE HEART.

Fierce is the flame not nursed by sensuous fires,
Wherein our passions never have a part,
And which no spirit of the earth inspires,
Nor any glowing beacon light of art:
It is the faith whence fairer actions start,
That daily vows of purity requires,
And dedicates to heaven its high desires,
The never-sated hunger of the heart.
Its voice is in the penitential sigh,
Its seat in widows' robes and orphans' tears,
And hopes that are the birth of pious fears;
In every hour that passes panting by,
In souls that sicken and yet cannot die,
And sad and ceaseless yearnings of the years.