Fairy Changeling and Other Poems — Unknown Ideal

UNKNOWN IDEAL

Whose is the voice that will not let me rest?

I hear it speak.

Where is the shore will gratify my quest, Show what I seek?

Not yours, weak Muse, to mimic that far voice, With halting tongue;

No peace, sweet land, to bid my heart rejoice Your groves among.

Whose is the loveliness I know is by, Yet cannot place?

Is it perfection of the sea or sky, Or human face?

Not yours, my pencil, to delineate The splendid smile!

Blind in the sun, we struggle on with Fate That glows the while.