Along the trail :: :: University of Virginia Library

Doctor, I pray you, do no more wrong
To the drugged dog there in the horrid room.
Come, unmuzzle; disclose how the stars prolong
Thin lines of light through the infinite gloom,
And how life sprang in the primal spume.
Then I'll tell you how the bells' ding-dong
Holds sweet talk with the birds i' the broom,
And the poet's heart is astir with song.

Sage, who discernest in winter's thong
The thought at the heart of June's perfume,
Say, how grows the weak babe wise and strong,
And how is Thought born, and by whom
May the Fates be lured from the pitiless loom,
And what is Right and what is Wrong?
Then I'll tell you why the breakers boom,
And the poet's heart is astir with song.

Priest, tell me now, ere the even-song,
How God lay hid in the Virgin's womb,
Who filleth the depth and the height of the long
Sky-reaches, and how men's mouths consume
His flesh that rose from the sacred tomb.
Then I'll tell you how the clouds give tongue
To a message from God of a grand sweet doom,
And the poet's heart is astir with song.

Princess, say how the heart makes room
For love, where the cares of a kingdom throng.
Then I'll tell you why the roses bloom
And the poet's heart is astir with song.

1887