Did the wide world know you loved me would it seen the kinder for it?
Did the wide world know you loved me -- loved me best --
Would the searching light of day In the yearning soul abhor it?
Or would the glad winds cry abroad the rapture in my breast?
Ah, no! keep the knowledge hidden, for the secret love is sweeter --
Sweet to know it when they pass me in the hurrying, busy mart,
For it makes the link diviner, and the dream itself completer,
While I carry all my secret safely hidden in my heart.
First published in The Queenslander, 28 October 1899
