Page:Poems Trask.djvu/91

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MY LOVE.
81
Then cast off the fetters of fortune,
Nor bow to fate's autocrat nod!
And scorn to walk tamely the pathway
A craven-souled million have trod:
Be worthy thy glorious destiny,
Man, made in the image of God!




MY LOVE.
Thou hast a lone, dark corner in my heart,
    To me unknown!
I've never dared to fathom the dim depth,
    Lest it be stone;
And yet, I know, my soul's most sacred thoughts
    Live there alone.

I know not if I'd love thy clasping arm,
    Or thy lips' kiss,—
I never linger near to catch thy smile,
    Lest it be bliss;
And would I risk to drink of perfect joy
    In world like this?

Often, at midnight, a wild longing comes
    And seizes me;
Fervid, intense, and strong, it folds me round,
    And then I long to be
In some unpeopled, trackless desert waste,
    Alone fore'er with THEE.