| Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). An American Anthology, 1787–1900. 1900. |
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| 423. The Poet’s Secret |
| | | By Elizabeth Stoddard |
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| 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. | |
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| I scan the lily and the rose, | 5 |
| I nod to every nodding tree, | |
| I follow every stream that flows, | |
| And wait beside the steadfast sea. | |
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| I question melancholy eyes, | |
| I touch the lips of women fair: | 10 |
| Their lips and eyes may make me wise, | |
| But what I seek for is not there. | |
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| In vain I watch the day and night, | |
| In vain the world through space may roll; | |
| I never see the mystic light | 15 |
| Which fills the poet’s happy soul. | |
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| 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. | 20 |
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