Part 2 — OMNIA VINCIT
Reading edition
Long from the lists of love I stood aloof My heart was steeled and I was beauty-proof; Yet I, unscathed in many a peril past, Lo! here am I defeated at the last.
My practice was, in easy-chair reclined, Superior-wise to speak of womankind, Waving away the worn-out creed of love To join the smoke that wreathed itself above.
Love, I said in my wisdom, Love is dead, For all his fabled triumphs—and instead We find a calm affectionate respect, Doled forth by Intellect to Intellect.
Yet when Love, taking vengeance, smote me sore, My Siren called me from no classic shore; It was no Girton trumpet that laid low The walls of this Platonic Jericho.
For when my peace of mind at length was stole, I thought no whit of Intellect or Soul, Nay! I was cast in pitiful distress By brown eyes wide with truth and tenderness.
Alfred Cochrane [1865-