Love’s Philosophy The fountains mingle with the river And the rivers with the ocean; The winds of heaven mix forever With a sweet emotion; Nothing in the world is single; All things by a law divine In one another’s being mingle— Why not I with thine?

See the mountains kiss high heaven And the waves clasp one another; No sister flower would be forgiven If it disdain’d its brother; And the sunlight clasps the earth And the moonbeams kiss the sea— What are all these kissings worth, If thou kiss not me?

• Langston Hughes