Sunday, 29 December 2024

The Secret

George Edward Woodberry (1855-1930)
'The Secret'
Nightingales warble about it,
    All night under blossom and star;
The wild swan is dying without it,
    And the eagle crieth afar;
The sun he doth mount but to find it,
    Searching the green earth o'er;
But more doth a man's heart mind it,
    Oh, more, more, more!

Over the gray leagues of ocean
    The infinite yearneth alone;
The forests with wandering emotion
    The thing they know not intone;
Creation arose but to see it,
    A million lamps in the blue;
But a lover he shall be it
    If one sweet maid is true.