Classic Poem

Love has given me my singing, —
Take then what you have taken.
All the longing and denial,
The unrest my life has shaken,
I forgive. Much sorrow love can bring,
But it was love that stirred my lips to sing!

Oh, you taught to me my hunger,
You may claim me by that token;
But the word my hunger taught me
That my hunger might be spoken —
This to me, to me — not you — belongs;
You had my love, but mine shall be my songs!