Crown!
Symbol of might,
Of sovereignty and power.
Unbroken circle which chastely tells
The mandate of Love,
Noble diadem which focuses
The accomplishment of law!
Crown of Love—
Not something won and worn
And then discarded
In a moment of hate, of fear,
Of righteous indignation,
Where thought stoops down
To grapple with a dream.
Nor won and worn
In self-aggrandizement
To vaunt the power of personal gain
Or intellectual sophistry.
For these dissolve
In that pure reign of Soul
Where God holds man.
But ever is this crown of Love
Worn in true simplicity.
No outward thing, no added grace,
But always the inner potence of humility,
The inner halo of Love,
Forgiving—for it records no wrong;
Healing—for it knows no ill;
Living, reigning, being,
Won and worn
Because man moves
As Love's own self-expression,
Who cannot walk
Without Love's crown.
Be glad,
O blessed of Soul.
O man of Mind,
Rejoice!
You win,
You wear,
You know
The glory of Love's crown.