| Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). An American Anthology, 1787–1900. 1900. |
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| 564. Song from a Drama |
| | | By Edmund Clarence Stedman |
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| THOU art mine, thou hast given thy word; | |
| Close, close in my arms thou art clinging; | |
| Alone for my ear thou art singing | |
| A song which no stranger hath heard: | |
| But afar from me yet, like a bird, | 5 |
| Thy soul, in some region unstirred, | |
| On its mystical circuit is winging. | |
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| Thou art mine, I have made thee mine own; | |
| Henceforth we are mingled forever: | |
| But in vain, all in vain, I endeavor— | 10 |
| Though round thee my garlands are thrown, | |
| And thou yieldest thy lips and thy zone— | |
| To master the spell that alone | |
| My hold on thy being can sever. | |
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| Thou art mine, thou hast come unto me! | 15 |
| But thy soul, when I strive to be near it— | |
| The innermost fold of thy spirit— | |
| Is as far from my grasp, is as free, | |
| As the stars from the mountain-tops be, | |
| As the pearl, in the depths of the sea, | 20 |
| From the portionless king that would wear it. | |
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