Poem by Ella Wheeler Wilcox

The Law (The tide of love swells in me with such force)

The tide of love swells in me with such force,
   It sweeps away all hate and all distrust.
As eddying straws and particles of dust
   Are lost by some swift river in its course.

So much I love my friends, my life, my art,
   Each shadow flies; the light dispels the gloom.
Love is so fair, I find I have no room
   For anything less worthy in my heart.

Love is a germ which we can cultivate--
   To grace and perfume sweeter than the rose,
Or leave neglected while our heart soil grows
   Rank with that vile and poison thistle, hate.

Love is a joyous thrush, that one can teach
   To sing sweet lute-like songs which all may hear.
Or we can silence him and tune the ear
   To caw of crows, or to the vulture’s screech.

Love is a feast; and if the guests divide
   With all who pass, though thousands swell the van,
There shall be food and drink for every man;
   The loaves and fishes will be multiplied.

Love is the guide. I look to heights above
   So beautiful, so very far away;
Yet I shall tread their sunlit peaks some day,
   Since close in mine I hold the hand of love.

Love is the law. But yield to its control
   And thou shalt find all things work for the best,
And in the calm, still heaven of thy breast,
   That God, Himself, sits talking with thy soul.

1. The Birth of the Orchid
2. The Call (All wantonly in hours of joy)
3. Be Not Attached
4. Behold the Earth
5. The Black Charger

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