Bliss Carman, et al., eds. The Worlds Best Poetry. Volume II. Love. 1904. | | II. Loves Nature | Love | Sir Walter Scott (17711832) |
| From the Lay of the Last Minstrel, Canto III. |
| AND said I that my limbs were old, | |
And said I that my blood was cold, | |
And that my kindly fire was fled, | |
And my poor withered heart was dead, | |
And that I might not sing of love? | 5 |
How could I, to the dearest theme | |
That ever warmed a minstrels dream, | |
So foul, so false a recreant prove! | |
How could I name loves very name, | |
Nor wake my heart to notes of flame! | 10 |
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In peace, Love tunes the shepherds reed; | |
In war, he mounts the warriors steed; | |
In halls, in gay attire is seen; | |
In hamlets, dances on the green. | |
Love rules the court, the camp, the grove, | 15 |
And men below, and saints above; | |
For love is heaven, and heaven is love. | |
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True loves the gift which God has given | |
To man alone beneath the heaven; | |
It is not fantasys hot fire, | 20 |
Whose wishes, soon as granted, fly; | |
It liveth not in fierce desire, | |
With dead desire it doth not die; | |
It is the secret sympathy, | |
The silver link, the silken tie, | 25 |
Which heart to heart, and mind to mind, | |
In body and in soul can bind. | | |
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