Two songs for solitude

The Crystal Gazer
I shall gather myself into myself again, 
I shall take my scattered selves and make them one, 
I shall fuse them into a polished crystal ball 

Where I can see the moon and the flashing sun. 

I shall sit like a sibyl, hour after hour intent, 

Watching the future come and the present go-- 

And the little shifting pictures of people rushing 

In tiny self-importance to and fro. 

The Solitary

Let them think I love them more than I do, 

Let them think I care, though I go alone, 

If it lifts their pride, what is it to me 

Who am self-complete as a flower or a stone? 

It is one to me that they come or go 

If I have myself and the drive of my will, 

And strength to climb on a summer night 

And watch the stars swarm over the hill. 

My heart has grown rich with the passing of years, 

I have less need now than when I was young 

To share myself with every comer, 

Or shape my thoughts into words with my tongue. 

Sara Teasdale 1884-1933