Chapter XXVIII

Was there in us one fondness, one thought, one
gladness, one promise that we had not sown before
our footsteps?

Was there a prayer heard in secret whose hands
stretched out gently over our bosom we had not
clasped?

Was there one appeal, one purpose, one tranquil
or violent desire whose pace we had not quickened?

And each loving the other thus, our hearts went
out as apostles to the gentle, timid and chilled
hearts of others;

And by the power of thought invited them to
feel akin to ours, and, with frank ardours, to
proclaim love, as a host of flowers loves the
same branch that suspends and bathes it in the
sun.

And our soul, as though made greater in this
awakening, began to celebrate all that loves,
magnifying love for love's sake, and to cherish
divinely, with a wild desire, the whole world
that is summed up in us.