|
Give all to love; Obey thy heart; Friends, kindred days, estate, credit, and the muse,- nothing refuse.
'Tis a brave master; Let it have scope: Follow it utterly, Hope beyond hope: High and more high It dives into noon, With wing unspent, Untold intent; But it is a god, Knows its own path And the outlets of the sky.
It was never for the mean; It requireth courage stout. Souls above doubt, Valor unbending, It will reward,- They shall return More than they were, And ever ascending.
Leave all for love; Yet, hear me, yet, One word more thy heart beloved, One pulse more of firm endeavor,- Keep thee today, Tomorrow, forever, Free as an Arab Of thy beloved.
Cling with life to the maid; But when the surprise, First vague shadow of surmise, flits across her young bosom, of a joy apart from thee, free be she, fancy-free; Nor thou detain her vesture's hem, nor the palest rose she flung from her summer diadem.
Though thou loved her as thyself, as a self of purer clay, Though her parting dims the day, Stealing grace from all alive; Heartily know, When half-gods go, The gods arrive. |
|