Poem by Mathilde Blind

Hope

All treasures of the earth and opulent seas,
Metals and odorous woods and cunning gold,
Fowls of the air and furry beasts untold,
Vineyards and harvest fields and fruitful trees
Nature gave unto Man; and last her keys
Vouched passage to her secret ways of old
Whence knowledge should be wrung, nay power to mould
Out of the rough, his occult destinies.

But tired of these he craved a wider scope:
Then fair as Pallas from the brain of Jove
From his deep wish there sprang, full-armed, to cope
With all life's ills, even very death in love,
The only thing man never wearies of—
His own creation—visionary Hope.

1. Rose D'Amour
2. Time's Shadow
3. The Teamster
4. Apple-Gathering
5. Your Looks Have Touched My Soul

Anne Finch, Countess of Winchilsea Hope ("The Tree of Knowledge we in Eden prov'd")

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