 | Firdausi in Exile and Other Poems |  |
159
H. P.
This virgin soul looked shyly forth, and knew
The fiery face of Love, and then withdrew,
Just when the spices through its garden blew.
The fiery face of Love, and then withdrew,
Just when the spices through its garden blew.
With this one glimpse so full a rapture came,
It shrank from earthly joy as pain and shame,
And passed to God on that first mystic flame.
It shrank from earthly joy as pain and shame,
And passed to God on that first mystic flame.
Dissolved, assumed in ardours so intense,
It rose to heights untouched by mortal sense,
Like some pure cloud of molten frankincense.
It rose to heights untouched by mortal sense,
Like some pure cloud of molten frankincense.
And that pale lamp of verse, which God had given
To guide this soul, while o'er life's ocean driven,
Was quenched within the blazing glow of heaven.
To guide this soul, while o'er life's ocean driven,
Was quenched within the blazing glow of heaven.
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