With happy heart I tread the ways Of this world of hate and sin. And everywhere I whisper praise That there true lovers have been. Not only in some dim retreat, Where the branches that bend above, And the mossy banks, for lovers meet, Seem Cupid's palace of love, But sometimes on the brick-paved walk Of a city's seething street, The air yet thrills with lovers' talk, And the brick with lovers' feet. For where our thronging human race Most ceaselessly comes and goes, Most sure am I that blessed place Some touch of a lover knows. And humdrum shops, and factories, And the bustling market square, And railroad stations, -- spots like these, All vulgar, and hot, and bare, -- Some lovers, I have faith to hold, Have hallowed each homely place, And changed its pewter all to gold, And its homeliness all to grace. And thus I walk with listening ear, Wherever I chance to be, If some sweet echo I may hear, Or some lingering love-light see. And so God bless the lovers dear, As they bless this world for me! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...SPOON RIVER ANTHOLOGY: ELIZABETH CHILDERS by EDGAR LEE MASTERS OF THE WARS IN IRELAND by JOHN HARRINGTON THREE BLIND MICE by MOTHER GOOSE SCHUBERT'S (UNFINISHED) SYMPHONY by FRANCES BARTLETT THE SILVER BIRD OF HERNDYKE MILL by EDMUND CHARLES BLUNDEN SOLOMON'S PARENTS by GORDON BOTTOMLEY |