Poems (Stoddard)/The Poet's Secret
POEMS
THE POET'S SECRET.
THE poet's secret I must know, If that will calm my restless mind.I hail the seasons as they go, I woo the sunshine, brave the wind.
I scan the lily and the rose, I nod to every nodding tree,I follow every stream that flows, And wait beside the steadfast sea.
I question melancholy eyes, I touch the lips of women fair: Their lips and eyes may make me wise, But what I seek for is not there.
In vain I watch the day and night, In vain the world through space may roll;I never see the mystic light Which fills the poet's happy soul.
Through life I hear the rhythmic flow Whose meaning into song must turn;Revealing all he longs to know, The secret each alone must learn.