I WOULD that we had won of love More than the little coin thereof, And all the rest had flung away The gain supreme to keep; I would that we might understand All that in Eden God first planned, Ere ever men had learned to slay Or women learned to weep. But ah, that visions cannot last -- That perfect moments fade so fast, And men to pettiness return Who spoke with God erstwhile! I would that we lay side by side And that the curious moonbeams pried In vain at our closed lids to learn The secret of our smile. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE DEVIL'S WALK [ON EARTH] by SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE THE PROBLEM by RALPH WALDO EMERSON LOVE AT SEA by THEOPHILE GAUTIER A PRAYER by EDWARD ROWLAND SILL DESERTED DERRICK by MARY ELIZABETH BRANTLEY THE HERO by AMELIA JOSEPHINE BURR |