Lyrics freely adapted by Frank DiGiacomo from The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran, published by Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., reprinted as a Borzoi Book in 1962.

This song was composed by Frank DiGiacomo to celebrate the marriage of William and Kathleen Black. The text was especially chosen by the new couple, and the song was given its first performance by Mr. Black at An Evening of New Music by Frank DiGiacomo on May 18, 1977, at the Carrier Theater of the Mulroy Civic Center in Syracuse, New York.

LYRICS
When love beckons to you, follow him, follow him,
though his ways are hard and steep.
And when his wings enfold you, yield to him, though the sword
hidden among his pinions may wound you.
And when he speaks to you believe in him, though his voice
may shatter your dreams as the north wind lays waste to the Garden.
Ah!
For even as love crowns you, so shall he crucify you.
Love gives naught but itself and takes naught but from itself
for love possesses not, nor would it be possessed.
For love is sufficient unto love, ah, for love is sufficient unto love.
Ah!
Love has no other desire but to fulfil itself.
But if you love, and must have desires, let these be your desires:
to melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night;
to know the pain of too much tenderness;
to be wounded by your own understanding of love;
and to bleed, willingly and joyfully;
to wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving;
to rest at the noon hour and meditate on love’s ecstasy;
to return home at eventide with gratitude and then to sleep
with a prayer for your beloved in your heart and a song of praise upon your lips.
When you love you should not say “God is in my heart,”
but rather, “I am in the heart of God.”
Ah!