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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


LOVE'S FRANCISCAN by HENRY CONSTABLE

Poem Explanation

First Line: SWEET HAND! THE SWEET YET CRUEL BOW THOU ART
Last Line: THY ARROWS QUIVER, AND THY RELICS SHINE.

Sweet hand! the sweet yet cruel bow thou art,
From whence as one, five ivory arrows fly,
So with five wounds at once I wounded lie
Bearing in breast the print of every dart.
Saint Francis had the like, yet felt no smart:
Where I in living torments never die;
His wounds were in his hands and feet where I
All these same helpless wounds feel in my heart.
Now as Saint Francis (if a saint) am I.
The bow which shot these shafts a relic is;
I mean the hand, which is the reason why
So many for devotion thee would kiss,
And I thy glove kiss as a thing divine;
Thy arrows quiver, and thy relics shine.



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