The poems of Madison Cawein | ||
168
TO A WINDFLOWER
I
Teach me the secret of thy loveliness,That, being made wise, I may aspire to be
As beautiful in thought, and so express
Immortal truths to Earth's mortality;
Though to my soul ability be less
Than 't is to thee, O sweet anemone.
II
Teach me the secret of thy innocence,That in simplicity I may grow wise;
Asking from Art no other recompense
Than the approval of her own just eyes;
So may I rise to some fair eminence,
Though less than thine, O cousin of the skies.
III
Teach me these things; through whose high knowledge, I,—169
And brought me home, as all are brought, to lie
In that vast House, common to serfs and Thanes,—
I shall not die, I shall not utterly die,
For beauty born of beauty—that remains.
The poems of Madison Cawein | ||