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THE RECLUSE by CONSTANCE CAROLINE WOODHILL NADEN

First Line: HAVING KNOWN LOVE, ALL ITS UNMEASURED HEIGHTS
Last Line: WELL HAST THOU CHOSEN; BUT I, TOO, CHOSE WELL.

"Heu! Quanto minus est cum reliquis versari, quam tui meminisse!"

HAVING known Love, all its unmeasured heights,
All its unfathomed depths, I go my way,
In full content that these supreme delights
Come not, like meaner pleasures, day by day.

Such lesser joys I yielded with few tears,
Reserving nought, paying Lovers perfect price:
Shall I bewail my thirty desert years,
I, who have lived three days in Paradise?

Nay, smile not, friend! I know not which is best,
Plucked rosebud, or remembered asphodel,
A mortal wife, or an Olympian guest:
Well hast thou chosen; but I, too, chose well.





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