DEARTH, a poem

AS one who faring o'er a desert plain
     Sees fountains clear in the mirage arise,
  And, parchèd, longs the nectar sweet to gain
     Which still before him flies—
  So, wistfully, half doubting, half-believing,
  Scornful of hope—yet hopeful, self-deceiving,
     I thirst for love, which wastes before my eyes.

"Dearth" by Florence Earle Coates. Above as published in Poems (1916) Volume I; also published in Lyrics of Life (1909). An additional first stanza is present in The Smart Set version (August 1908):

AS one who thirsting waits, while mocking him
     The waves o'erleap his shattered vessel's brink;
And, drifting on, life's cup but once to brim,
     Fain to sheer depths would sink—
So everywhere beholding love neglected,
Carelessly set aside, despised, rejected,
     I faint for a pure draught not mine to drink.