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.
The Poet's Secret

by Elizabeth Drew Stoddard, 1895
