To My Wife as May Queen

By George Sterling

Goddess of hearts by beauty's right divine,
    If yet in any isle of ancient seas
    Or garden o£ the lost Hesperides
An altar to the Cytherean shine,
Go thou not thither, tho' the gods repine;
    But grant us, we that love thy dear decrees,
    To know thy sway—solicitous to please
With coronals and sacrificial wine.

Permit us that the dove-voiced flutes extol
    Thy grace, and ours be garlands that enthrall
        Of sacred myrtle to thy service grown.
Beauty hath many pathways to the soul,
    And thou, O gentle queen., hast found them all,
        Making each heart thou enterest thy throne.
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