The Road of Make-Believe + 

She sits upon a rock along the stream + 

That heard the whisper of her first Desire, + 

Washing the faded garment of her Dream, + 

Which she had often carried to the Dyer⁠— + 

The Dream of her self-centred lyric fire. + 

And in the flowing, scarlet wounds of Twilight, + 

Expiring on Aurora’s drooping wings + 

Beneath the secret scimitar of Night, + 

She dyes again her garment, while she sings + 

Of new-born love, though to self-love she clings. + 

He seeks the path of glory in the noon + 

Of self-intoxication, dreaming still + 

Of power⁠—wondering why the sun and moon + 

Are not yoked to the chariot of his will. + 

His soul, a clinging vine, his mind, an ill, + 

He beats against the peaks of earth-bound dreams. + 

Subsisting on the thistles of his heart, + 

But ever seeking, in the fitful gleams + 

Of his own fire, self-admiration’s mart + 

To mend his horn or whet his venomed dart. + 

They walk together in the golden vast + 

Of vision-haunted, soul-alluring sands. + 

Beholding the illusions of the past + 

Among the ruins of deserted lands;⁠— + 

Together, although neither understands + 

The groping purpose of the other; and yet, + 

While in their hearts the gods of conflict nod, + 

They gloze and smile, dissembling their regret: + 

Love, on the Road of Make-Believe, they prod, + 

He going to the dogs and she, to God. + 