 | New songs of innocence |  |
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LOVE'S COMPENSATION.
My lily fair and undefiled,
My pure and holy maiden-child,
With eyes by earthly dews unwet,
And mouth serenely smiling yet
At memories of things unseen—
We who have longer banished been
Forget these visions of the skies
And look to earth with blinded eyes.
My pure and holy maiden-child,
With eyes by earthly dews unwet,
And mouth serenely smiling yet
At memories of things unseen—
We who have longer banished been
Forget these visions of the skies
And look to earth with blinded eyes.
From fields of never-failing flowers
You come to this cold world of ours:
In this bleak world, so wintry bare,
Our exile you have come to share.
And what have we to offer you
For blossoms of celestial hue
And all the blissful bowers above
You left for us—but only love?
You come to this cold world of ours:
In this bleak world, so wintry bare,
Our exile you have come to share.
And what have we to offer you
For blossoms of celestial hue
And all the blissful bowers above
You left for us—but only love?
O life it is a weary toil
In bodies rooted to the soil,
Inspired to soar, but wanting wings,
Choked in a fog of common things!
Each rising joy beat back by rain,
Each budding pleasure nipped by pain—
What is there that this earth can give
To make our life less hard to live?
In bodies rooted to the soil,
Inspired to soar, but wanting wings,
Choked in a fog of common things!
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Each budding pleasure nipped by pain—
What is there that this earth can give
To make our life less hard to live?
The pinnacle of power is high,
But is it nearer to the sky?
The richest food at wealth's control
Can never feed a starving soul;
And what is man's desire for fame,
But that his knowledge and his name
May touch with love his fellow-men
And win reward of love again?
But is it nearer to the sky?
The richest food at wealth's control
Can never feed a starving soul;
And what is man's desire for fame,
But that his knowledge and his name
May touch with love his fellow-men
And win reward of love again?
Love is the sun, benignly fair,
That warms for us life's chilly air;
Without it, we should fall and freeze
Like mariners on polar seas.
For you, my flower, my lily pale,
May love's pure sunshine never fail,
But guard you with its holy flame
Back to that heaven from whence you came!
That warms for us life's chilly air;
Without it, we should fall and freeze
Like mariners on polar seas.
For you, my flower, my lily pale,
May love's pure sunshine never fail,
But guard you with its holy flame
Back to that heaven from whence you came!
| New songs of innocence | |