From Victor Hugo

Portrait of Thomas Hardy
Thomas Hardy 1840–1928

Child, were I king, I'd yield my royal rule, My chariot, sceptre, vassal-service due, My crown, my porphyry-basined waters cool, My fleets, whereto the sea is but a pool, For a glance from you!

Love, were I God, the earth and its heaving airs, Angels, the demons abject under me, Vast chaos with its teeming womby lairs, Time, space, all would I give--aye, upper spheres, For a kiss from thee!

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