GREAT Jove, great god of gods, awful and absolute, If Jove indeed thou be, cast off this disrepute Of human likeness, this poor mask of mortal youth. Put on thy godliness. Proclaim thee Jove in truth! Robed in tempestuous pomp, the lightning for thy crown, Rend the obscuring skies! As king of kings come down, Thy sovereignty about thee like a living flame, And woo me as gods woo, to my resplendent shame! Grant me this only grace. Behold, I give thee all, As blossoms give their bloom at summer's secret call, As birds outpour their songs at morning's signalled light, As stars first wax aglow at whisper of the night. Beneath thy feet my throne is. Heaven is where thou art. Thy pulses' feeblest count is a blood-beat of my heart. I breathe but by thy breath. I am but what thou wilt, My being lost in thee as wine in wine is spilt. Then match me love for love, or grant me only this— To know my soul exchanged for an immortal's kiss! Oh, see! Oh, hark!—A crash! An all-devouring blaze! Almighty Jove, 't is thou! And Death around thee plays! Lover divinely awful, oh, aloof! aloof! Of a weak earthly loom is spun my heart's frail woof. In mercy veil thyself. Naught but an eagle's eye May look upon the sun's unshadowed majesty. Give me not all I asked! Thy full magnificence Reserve for Heaven alone. Beware Earth's impotence. Smitten with too much splendour as with too much pain My spirit slips its leash. Oh, vain prayer prayed in vain! Thy thunders drown my cries in their stupendous roll. The flaming of thy passion sears my shrinking soul. Thy fires have wrapped me round as in a burning shroud. I die—I die of thee! O lover, lightning-browed, Withdraw thy glory! Lo! I sink upon the sod! Love but as mortals love! Love not as loves a god! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...CONTRA MORTEM: THE WOMAN'S GENITALS by HAYDEN CARRUTH IF IT WERE NOT FOR YOU by HAYDEN CARRUTH SPRING NOTES FROM ROBIN HILL by HAYDEN CARRUTH MATE (1) by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON MATERNITY by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON |