Ambarvalia/Clough/Ah, what is love, our love, she said

by Arthur Hugh Clough

I.

Ah, what is love, our love, she said,

Ah, what is human love?
A fire, of earthly fuel fed,
Full fain to soar above.
With lambent flame the void it lips,
And of the impassive air
Would frame for its ambitious steps
A heaven-attaining stair.
It wrestles and it climbs—Ah me,
Go look in little space,
White ash on blackened earth will be
Sole record of its place.

II.

Ah love, high love, she said and sighed,

She said, the Poet's love!
A star upon a turbid tide,
Reflected from above.
A marvel here, a glory there,
But clouds will intervene,
And garish earthly noon outglare
The purity serene.