Not once in all our days of poignant love, Did I a single instant give to thee My undivided being wholly free. Not all thy potent passion could remove The barrier that loomed between to prove The full supreme surrendering of me. Oh, I was beaten, helpless utterly Against the shadow-fact with which I strove. For when a cruel power forced me to face The truth which poisoned our illicit wine, That even I was faithless to my race Bleeding beneath the iron hand of thine, Our union seemed a monstrous thing and base! I was an outcast from thy world and mine. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE BAY FIGHT by HENRY HOWARD BROWNELL DE GUSTIBUS' by ROBERT BROWNING ROSE AYLMER by WALTER SAVAGE LANDOR THE ANGEL'S WHISPER by SAMUEL LOVER ODES III, 29 by QUINTUS HORATIUS FLACCUS IDYLLS OF THE KING: THE PASSING OF ARTHUR by ALFRED TENNYSON |