THE DIVINE LOVE

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Text
Author
Edward Carpenter
Year
1873
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CHILD, the hours that breathe around thee
  Know thee most divinely fair ;
In its love the last enwound thee,
  And the next shall take thy hair

Backward from thy forehead's whiteness
  While upon thy lips it fold
Kisses, love-endued with lightness
  Lest thou guess what none have told.

Though thou seest not nor knowest,
  Love about thee, day by day,
Dwells and, whereso'er thou goest,
  Walks beside thee all the way ;

Tenderly his glances greet thee,
  And his words about thee weave ;
Even the winds and waters meet thee
  Always, only, by love's leave.

Yea, though none can shape or show it,
  Though no mortal logic prove,
Love himself doth surely know it :
  Thou shalt, when thou knowest Love.

Title of volume of first printing
Narcissus and Other Poems
Publisher
Henry S. King & Co.
Page numbers in original volume
223-224