Classic Poem

Hear me at last! I've read old books and new;
I've housed with sages either side the sea;
I've asked my soul when stars were over me;
I've watched in cities men with work to do;
I've been at Delphi when the eagle flew;
I've wept alone in dark Gethsemane;
And now I know, whatever gods there be,
Whatever temples rise, my guess was true:

The Good is good—and we shall tend the fire,
The holy flame that burns behind the veil!
And each design of ours and each desire
That would deny the eternal Good shall fail—
And art, that mocks that sunbright temple, must
Lie soon or late a harlot in the dust.