 | The Creed of My Heart and Other Poems |  |
49
A PALINODE
Of old I deemed that the divinest soulWas his who loved beyond his will's control;—
Who sought no recompense, but claimed the right
To flood a kindred soul with waves of light.
But when I saw thee radiant and serene,
Waiting for love, a crowned and sceptred queen;—
Waiting for love, as waits triumphantly
For tribute waters the imperial sea;—
Waiting for love, on beauty's high-set throne,
As one who knows her might and claims her own;—
And when I mused how all that I could bring
To thy dear feet of love's best offering,—
How all my passion's flood, my passion's force
Was but a stream returning to its source;—
Oh, then I learned—and learned for evermore—
The deepest secret of love's deepest lore,—
That in this Masque of Life the lover's heart,
For all its travail, plays the lesser part,—
That, though 'tis great to love, 'tis greater far
To be beloved, to be love's guiding star.
| The Creed of My Heart and Other Poems | |