| Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). An American Anthology, 1787–1900. 1900. |
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| 1550. To a Wind-Flower |
| | | By Madison Cawein |
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| TEACH me the secret of thy loveliness, | |
| That, being made wise, I may aspire to be | |
| As beautiful in thought, and so express | |
| Immortal truths to earth’s mortality; | |
| Though to my soul ability be less | 5 |
| Than ’t is to thee, O sweet anemone. | |
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| Teach me the secret of thy innocence, | |
| That in simplicity I may grow wise, | |
| Asking from Art no other recompense | |
| Than the approval of her own just eyes; | 10 |
| So may I rise to some fair eminence, | |
| Though less than thine, O cousin of the skies. | |
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| Teach me these things, through whose high knowledge, I,— | |
| When Death hath poured oblivion through my veins, | |
| And brought me home, as all are brought, to lie | 15 |
| In that vast house, common to serfs and Thanes,— | |
| I shall not die, I shall not utterly die, | |
| For beauty born of beauty—that remains. | |
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