English poem
Poem 39 ("Yet, an Thou lov'st all souls,…)
by Mary Elizabeth Coleridge (1861–1907)
"Yet, an Thou lov'st all souls, Thou lovest this. Thy life Thou gav'st, that it might live in bliss, Although it should betray Thee with a kiss.
"How oft shall I forgive? Seventy times seven? I had rather have lost my life here than forgiven. I had rather have lost my life there, in Thy Heaven.
"My heart is stone and doubts. Hast Thou a heart? See, I forgive!—With Thee I have no part. A painted corpse—a thing of wood Thou art!"
Thereat he saw no more a thing of wood. Thereat Christ came into the Holy Rood. Thereat he knelt, and knew that Christ made good.
The foe, whose hatred love could never tire, Looked on a sudden back, with fierce desire, And felt forgiveness burn like coals of fire.
More by Mary Elizabeth Coleridge
- Poem 32 (Out she sang the song of…)
- Poem 33 (They have not tried you for…)
- Poem 34 (What is the guerdon of all…)
- Poem 38 (Where is delight? and what are…)
- Poem 45 (Her voice was the voice that…)
- Poem 46 (Each man for himself as he…)
- Poem 47 (Sing no lament…)
- Poem 49 (Tall rows of pillars—stems of flowering…)