Studies of Sensation and Event :: :: University of Virginia Library

Nay, minstrel! love! and all things round thee moving,
Shall utter heavenly music, smile thee light;
For mighty is the loveliness of loving,
To endue the loved with joy; and joy makes bright;
Oh love then! love!

Love magnifies existence; love the world,—
Thy soul shall grow world-great in its sensation;
And 'neath the blaze of infinite life unfurled,
Pant with the passion of a whole creation.
Oh love then! love!

For thine own heart's sake, love! the unloving mind,
Unemanating light, no light receiveth;

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Tomb of itself, unable rest to find,
Buried alive, it low and wildly grieveth.
Oh love then! love!

Why sayest thou “Love not, for the loved may die!”
Reasoning inadequate!—because trees wither,
Do suns cease shining! though one loved thing fly,
Sends it not others love desiring hither!
Oh love then! love!

And thy warning “Love not, for the loved may change,”
Discrediteth love, that never a fee requires;
Happy in loving, though all, all be strange,
Its flame still burns, itself feeds still its fires:
Oh love then! love!

Love is that act, which maketh rich in giving;
Passion of soul which wasteth not, nor paineth;
Battled for, prayed for, wept for, by all living;
Dwelling most in him, who most of happiness gaineth:
Oh love then! love!