Yet would I have her other if I could?
Her slaves have said—Beauty’s as great as Good!
XXVIII
You asked me why I love you. This is why,
Told in the Hebrew lore: The Mischna tells
How Abraham, a boy, his idols sells,
Then, tiring, searched for God both far and nigh.
Night came. He saw the stars strew thick the sky,
“Surely that’s God!” The moon rose with her spells.
“No, no, that’s God!” Awe from his spirit wells: