Mine and Thine (1904)/United

by Florence Earle Coates

UNITED

Our single lives are circled round
By an embracing sea;
Are joined to all that has been, bound
To all that is to be:
The past and future meet and cross,
And in life's ocean is no loss.

The music of the summer dawn,
The silence of the midnight sky,
The stars, in azure deeps withdrawn,
Reveal a single mystery:
And blent with these, the whisperings
Of spirit find each shy retreat,
And link the soul with viewless things,
In union close and sweet.

Failure itself may count as gain
In aspiration; paved with fire
May be the path that leads from pain;
And unfulfilled desire
May kindle that pure flame above
Whose earthly name is love!