All That's Not Love . . .

Alan Seeger

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All that's not love is the dearth of my days,
The leaves of the volume with rubric unwrit,
The temple in times without prayer, without praise,
The altar unset and the candle unlit.


Let me survive not the lovable sway
Of early desire, nor see when it goes
The courts of Life's abbey in ivied decay,
Whence sometime sweet anthems and incense arose.


The delicate hues of its sevenfold rings
The rainbow outlives not; their yellow and blue
The butterfly sees not dissolve from his wings,
But even with their beauty life fades from them too.


No more would I linger past Love's ardent bounds
Nor live for aught else but the joy that it craves,
That, burden and essence of all that surrounds,
Is the song in the wind and the smile on the waves.

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Comments2
  • T. Y. Maxwell

    THIS POEM JUST HIT ME RIGHT IN THE FEELS. IT'S DEEP, MEANINGFUL AND BEAUTIFULLY WRITTEN. THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT IT THAT MAKES ME THINK ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF LOVE IN OUR LIFES AND HOW EMPTY EVERYTHING SEEMS WITHOUD IT. IM NOT USUALLY BIG ON POETRY BUT THIS ONE WAS DEFINITELY A GAME CHANGER. SORRY FOR THE CAPS BUT I JUST WANTED TO EXPRESS HOW MUCH I LOVED IT. MUST ADMIT, IT MADE ME A LITTLE MISTY-EYED TO THINK HOW TRUE THE WORD SAID WERE. KEEP SHARING SUCH BEAUTIFUL POEMS.

    • a_deishe

      "All That's Not Love" got me thinkin' 🤔 What's the song in the wind? 🎶