| Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). An American Anthology, 1787–1900. 1900. |
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| 525. Quatorzain |
| | | By Henry Timrod |
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| MOST men know love but as a part of life; | |
| They hide it in some corner of the breast, | |
| Even from themselves; and only when they rest | |
| In the brief pauses of that daily strife, | |
| Wherewith the world might else be not so rife, | 5 |
| They draw it forth (as one draws forth a toy | |
| To soothe some ardent, kiss-exacting boy) | |
| And hold it up to sister, child, or wife. | |
| Ah me! why may not love and life be one? | |
| Why walk we thus alone, when by our side, | 10 |
| Love, like a visible god, might be our guide? | |
| How would the marts grow noble! and the street, | |
| Worn like a dungeon-floor by weary feet, | |
| Seem then a golden court-way of the Sun! | |
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