I O NOT by reason can we love, Nor yet by reason hate; Our lives to mystic measures move, Touch'd by the Wand of Fate. II Your soul drew mine, as doth the moon Draw after her the main; Yet howso oft he craves her boon, The chiller her disdain. III O never nearer may I climb! Old Ocean's faith I know— Like his, my passion spurns at Time In ceaseless ebb and flow. IV O pitiless the moon's cold fire! And pitiless the heart That bids me ever to aspire, Yet bends not to my smart! V O not by reason can we love, Nor yet by reason hate; We cannot prove, we may not move The issues of our fate. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...ADOLF EICHMANN by HAYDEN CARRUTH CONTRA MORTEM: THE CHILD by HAYDEN CARRUTH PUSSY-WILLOW TIME by ROBERT FROST DREAM LIFE by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON TO GALLANT FRANCE by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON DEEP IN THE QUIET WOOD by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON FRAGMENT by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON TO J. D. H. (KILLED AT SURREY C. H., OCTOBER, 1866) by SIDNEY LANIER |