THE WORD
This is the wondrous word she spoke,
Learned, I think, from the fairy-folk:
"In cottage room and palace hall,
Love," she said, "is the all in all.
"Without it there is nothing worth
In heaven, dear, or in the earth;
Unknowing it, all life would be
But universal misery.
"It is the force, the only one,
That guides the stars, the moon and sun;
The comets, too, on it depend,
And 'tis the dying meteor's friend.
"Where'er love rests its shining wings
A beauty from the old earth springs;
A fountain bursts, a flower glows,
A fragrance o'er the desert flows.
"Beneath its spell the palace is
Endurable a while, I wis;
The water in the cottage pail
Is sweeter than the rarest ale.
"There is no wine, however old,
Can warm the loveless of their cold;
There is no power, here nor there,
Can make unloving beings fair.
"In cottage room and palace hall,
Love," she said, "is the all in all."
This is the wondrous word she told,
That she, the heart-wise, did unfold.
—20—
