The Complete Poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar/Love

by Paul Laurence Dunbar

For works with similar titles, see Love.

LOVE

A life was mine full of the close concern
  Of many-voiced affairs. The world sped fast;
  Behind me, ever rolled a pregnant past.
A present came equipped with lore to learn.
Art, science, letters, in their turn,
  Each one allured me with its treasures vast;
  And I staked all for wisdom, till at last
Thou cam'st and taught my soul anew to yearn.
  I had not dreamed that I could turn away
From all that men with brush and pen had wrought;
  But ever since that memorable day
When to my heart the truth of love was brought,
  I have been wholly yielded to its sway,
And had no room for any other thought.