⁠My soul was seared like sin to see the falsehood of the place;
And the innocence that mocked me, while in dim unseen recesses
⁠There were larking fouler secrets than the furtive reptile face.

And since then,—O, why the burden?—when the joyous faces greet me.
⁠With their eyes of limpid innocence, and words devoid of art,
I cannot trust their seeming, but must ask what eyes would meet me
⁠Could I look in sudden silence at the secrets of the heart!

HUNGER goes sleeplessly
⁠Thinking of food;
Evil lies painfully
⁠Yearning for good.
Life is a confluence:
⁠Nature must move,
Like the heart of a poet.
⁠Toward beauty and love.