Explore "Heart of mine, if all the altars" by Bliss Carman on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
Heart of mine, if all the altars / Of the ages stood before me, / Not one pure enough nor sacred / Could I find to lay this white, white / Rose of love upon.
I who am not great enough to / Love thee with this mortal body / So impassionate with ardour, / But oh, not too small to worship / While the sun shall shine, --
I would build a fragrant temple / To thee, in the dark green forest, / Of red cedar and fine sandal, / And there love thee with sweet service / All my whole life long.
I would freshen it with flowers, / And the piney hill-wind through it / Should be sweetened with soft fervours / Of small prayers in gentle language / Thou wouldst smile to hear.
And a tinkling Eastern wind-bell, / With its fluttering inscription, / From the rafters with bronze music / Should retard the quiet fleeting / Of uncounted hours.
And my hero, while so human, / Should be even as the gods are, / In that shrine of utter gladness, / With the tranquil stars above it / And the sea below.