If Love were not

If Love were not, the wilding rose

Would in its leafy heart enclose

No chalice of perfume;

By mossy bank, in glen or grot,

No bird would build, if Love were not,

No flow'r complacent bloom;

The sunset clouds would lose their dyes,

The light would fade from beauty's eyes;

The stars their fires consume.

And something miss'd from hall and cot

Would leave the world, if Love were not,

A wilderness of gloom.