One Word Is Too Often Profaned

One word is too often profanedFor me to profane it,One feeling too falsely disdainedFor thee to disdain it;One hope is too like despair 5For prudence to smother,And pity from thee more dearThan that from another.

I can give not what men call love,But wilt thou accept not 10The worship the heart lifts aboveAnd the Heavens reject not,—The desire of the moth for the star,Of the night for the morrow,The devotion to something afar 15From the sphere of our sorrow?