Had I the Power That Have the Will
HAD I the power that have the will,
The enfeebled will– a modern curse –
This book of mine should blossom still
A perfect garden—ground of verse.
White placid marble gods should keep
Good watch in every shadowy lawn;
And from clean, easy—breathing sleep
The birds should waken me at dawn.
—A fairy garden; —none the less
Throughout these gracious paths of mine
All day there should be free access
For stricken hearts and lives that pine;
And by the folded lawns all day—
No idle gods for such a land—
All active Love should take its way
With active Labour hand in hand.
