I sing of love that has been sung before,
I tell the oldest tale of all the world;
But new or old, I sing yet more and more,
...
O wherefore ever onward Love, O why
Not rest with me awhile, and bid me take
Thine own sweet flowers that everywhere grow high
...
In a dream of the night,
Afar from the day,
By the soft moon light,
You passed my way.
...
I saw the stars look down upon the earth,
The cold moon blended with the trembling sea,
I watch'd the sun from earliest time of birth,
...
Although the yellow leaves are on the tree,
And summer's ruins thickly strew the ground,
And no bright flowers are in the sea-girt lea,
...
I know great clouds are all around the sky;
I know great rocks are seen along the shore;
Waves terrible, I know, dash loud and high,
...
I love, and therefore silent I remain,
Because I love, no jealousy is near;
I love! and love's expression can restrain,
...
To know thy will, O Love, itself is joy,
To do it an ineffable delight,
Unweariedly life's sweetness to employ
...
The sea is all unknown and dark to me,
Great blackness rests on rock and tree and field,
The sky above I only know to be,—
...
Do those pure eyes shine verily the same,
On any other eyes they chance to meet?
O tell to me, by Love's untarnished name,
...