The speaker addresses a lonely, timid heart—perhaps his own or a lover’s—comparing it to a tropical flower that closes at the lightest touch. That opening image suggests shyness so deep it feels like self-protection, and the speaker’s question—“What is your word?”—carries gentle frustration: he wants to know what confession is being held back. The other person’s eyes seem warm but sad, and their guarded life feels delicate, easily wounded by the speaker’s restless, warring mind. McKay then widens the view: no place on earth, not even rocky eagle country, offers undisturbed rest; the world feels dry, unyielding, and unwelcoming. Yet in that harshness, where struggle gleams like teeth in every land, two people can still join hungry, understanding hands and take their share of love and life. The mood is tender but resolute—love is not found in comfort, but chosen amid difficulty.
Courage — Summary
O lonely heart so timid of approach, Like the shy tropic flower that shuts its lips To the faint touch of tender finger tips: What is your word? What question would you broach? Your lustrous-warm eyes are too sadly kind To mask the meaning of your dreamy tale, Your guarded life too exquisitely frail Against the daggers of my warring mind. There is no part of the unyielding earth, Even bare rocks where the eagles build their nest, Will give us undisturbed and friendly rest. No dewfall softens this vast belt of dearth. But in the socket-chiseled teeth of strife, That gleam in serried files in all the lands, We may join hungry, understanding hands, And drink our share of ardent love and life.