18th c e n t u r y p o e t r y

 ~ ~ ~         ~ ~ ~        ~ ~ ~

Khalil Gibran was an 18th century poet from Lebanon.    He was also a gifted artist.    "The Prophet" was first published in 1923,  and is a series of subjects as experienced through the human condition   ~

I would like to share with you some of my favorite passages~



Speak to us of Love___________________________


When love beckons to you follow him,   Though his ways are hard and steep.

. . . Love gives naught but itself
and takes naught but from itself.

Love possesses not nor would it be possessed;
For love is sufficient unto love.

When you love you should not say, "God is in my heart,"
but rather,

I am in the heart of God."

~ ~ ~        ~ ~ ~
　
And think not you can direct the course of love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course.

But if you love. . . let these be your desires:


To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night.


To know the pain of too much tenderness.


To be wounded by your own understanding of love;
And to bleed willingly

and joyfully.
To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving . . .