I am thy fugitive, thy votary, Nor even thy mother tempts me from thy shrine: Mirror, nor gold, nor ornament of mine Appease her: thou art all my gods to me, And I so breathless in my loyalty, Youth hath slipped by and left no footprint sign: Yet there are footsteps nigh. My years decline. Decline thy years? Burns thy torch duskily? Lord Love, to thy great altar I retire; Time doth pursue me, age is on my brow, And there are cries and shadows of the night. Transform me, for I cannot quit thee now: Love, thou hast weapons visionary, bright -- Keep me perpetual in grace and fire! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE HOUSE OF LIFE: 101. THE ONE HOPE by DANTE GABRIEL ROSSETTI THE BELFRY PIGEON by NATHANIEL PARKER WILLIS WRITTEN IN IRELAND by MARY (CUMBERLAND) ALCOCK HYMN TO FIRE by KONSTANTIN DMITRIYEVICH BALMONT |