The Secret Splendour

Rosa Mystica—A Colloquy

The Cynic

Tell Dante when he shows

High heaven—-where earth-lust falls away—

 In the image of a rose:

"Not by forgetting all

Earth-hunger does that bloom display

Carmines so magical"

Do mystics ever ken

What tumult bees and butterflies

Make in the rose-core when

To the pistil's mouth they've brought

 Winged pollen? Dante's paradise

 Is full of mating! Not

Through sheer oblivion

Of longing and earth-rooted love

 This flower's deep work is done.

Poet, your mystic rose

Is the reproductive organ of

The plant on which it blows!

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The Idealist

Surely, that organ is

An image of love's source and goal—

Sign of ineffable bliss

Most beautifully given

For soul to draw with comrade soul

Even here a glint of heaven.

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