| Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). An American Anthology, 1787–1900. 1900. |
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| 515. But Once |
| | | By Theodore Winthrop |
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| TELL me, wide wandering soul, in all thy quest | |
| Sipping or draining deep from crystal rim | |
| Where pleasure sparkled, when did over brim | |
| That draught its goblet with the fullest zest? | |
| Of all thy better bliss what deemst thou best? | 5 |
| Then thus my soul made answer. Ecstasy | |
| Comes once, like birth, like death, and once have I | |
| Been, oh! so madly happy, that the rest | |
| Is tame as surgeless seas. It was a night | |
| Sweet, beautiful as she, my love, my light; | 10 |
| Fair as the memory of that keen delight. | |
| Through trees the moon rose steady, and it blessed | |
| Her forehead chastely. Her uplifted look, | |
| Calm with deep passion, I for answer took, | |
| Then sudden heart to heart was wildly pressed. | 15 |
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