| Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). An American Anthology, 1787–1900. 1900. |
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| 1241. His Quest |
| | | By Lewis Frank Tooker |
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| WHAT seek’st thou at this madman’s pace? | |
| “I seek my love’s new dwelling place: | |
| Her house is dark, her doors are wide, | |
| There bat and owl and beetle bide, | |
| And there, breast-high, the rank weeds grow, | 5 |
| And drowsy poppies nod and blow. | |
| So mount I swift to ride me through | |
| The world to find my love anew. | |
| I have no token of the way; | |
| I haste by night, I press by day. | 10 |
| Through busy cities I am borne, | |
| On lonely heights I watch the morn | |
| Climb up the east, and see the light | |
| Of waning moon gleam thwart my flight. | |
| Sometimes a light before me flees; | 15 |
| I follow it, till stormy seas | |
| Break wide before, then all is dark. | |
| Sometimes on plains, wide, still, and stark, | |
| I hear a voice; I seek the sound, | |
| And ride into a hush profound. | 20 |
| To find her dwelling I will ride | |
| Worlds through and through, whate’er betide.” | |
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| To find her dwelling rode he forth, | |
| In vain rode south, in vain rode north; | |
| In vain in mountain, plain, and mart | 25 |
| He searched, but never searched his heart. | |
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