Legends and Lyrics-2 [33]
or rough, may jar the whole,
You well might feel afraid to reign with absolute power of joy and
pain.
You well might fear--if Love's sole claim
Were to be happy: but true Love
Takes joy as solace, not as aim,
And looks beyond, and looks above;
And sometimes through the bitterest strife first learns to live her
highest life.
Earth forges joy into a chain
Till fettered Love forgets its strength,
Its purpose, and its end;--but Pain
Restores its heritage at length,
And bids Love rise again and be eternal, mighty, pure, and free.
If then your future life should need
A strength my Love can only gain
Through suffering, or my heart be freed
Only by sorrow, from some stain -
Then you shall give, and I will take, this Crown of fire for Love's
dear sake.
Sept. 8th, 1860.
End
You well might feel afraid to reign with absolute power of joy and
pain.
You well might fear--if Love's sole claim
Were to be happy: but true Love
Takes joy as solace, not as aim,
And looks beyond, and looks above;
And sometimes through the bitterest strife first learns to live her
highest life.
Earth forges joy into a chain
Till fettered Love forgets its strength,
Its purpose, and its end;--but Pain
Restores its heritage at length,
And bids Love rise again and be eternal, mighty, pure, and free.
If then your future life should need
A strength my Love can only gain
Through suffering, or my heart be freed
Only by sorrow, from some stain -
Then you shall give, and I will take, this Crown of fire for Love's
dear sake.
Sept. 8th, 1860.
End