The Quest for Joy

I.

A phantom I follow forever through all of the shadow and shine,
Whose face is fair as the blossom, whose form is as warm as the wine;
Whose lips are as sweet as the dewfalls that velvet the mornings of
June,
And eyes as the deep stars of Autumn that glow in the glories of noon!

II.

A phantom I follow forever! Yet never on ocean or land
Have I heard the sweet voice of her music or leaped at the thrill of
her hand,
And never, ah, never a greeting she gives that is tender and kind,
As I follow through mazes of beauty where flowers in her foot-steps I
find!

III.

A phantom I follow forever! What matter though careless of me,
She drifts to the sands of the desert and sails on the wave-tossing sea?
With foot never parched by the barrens, with boat never broken by storm,
I follow, I follow her passing and clutch at the wraith of her form!

IV.

And still I will follow the phantom!
Whatever the questing may seem
I'll conquer the spoil of her glory and climb to the crown of her dream;
And over the deeps of my yearning and over the hills of my hope,
She leads and I follow forever, wherever her phantasies grope!

V.

And there at the last I shall find her--the angel that led me afar,--
And we shall rejoice in the raptures where all the beatitudes are,
And whether the journey be little, or whether the journey be long,
I press the red lips of her beauty and leap at the lilt of her song!