O wondrous sphinx! within thy marble breast What undreamed secrets lie concealed! Hast thou no pity for my wild unrest My maddening longing for the unrevealed?
Within a temple's towering walls I stand A temple vast; the heaven is its dome: No corniced crag was hewn by human hand, Nor by it wrought this tracery of foam;
If he bring me a rose, a briar rose, To place in my braided hair, I shall know there are thorns in life for me And many a wearying care. If he bring me a lily pure and pale And lay it upon my breast, I shall know that my life will be of peace, As a bird in its mother's nest.