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85
FROM ONE TO ANOTHER.
My beautiful, sorrowful lady,
Whose spirit has entered mine,
I bid you to be partaker
Of our fellowship's seal and sign;
Come eat of my bread of affliction,
Come drink of my bitter wine.
Whose spirit has entered mine,
I bid you to be partaker
Of our fellowship's seal and sign;
Come eat of my bread of affliction,
Come drink of my bitter wine.
Who gave you to me, my darling,
He wills you to suffer with me:
Young, strong, and so full of passion,
A long, long time it will be
Before the struggle is over,
And Christ shall set me free.
He wills you to suffer with me:
Young, strong, and so full of passion,
A long, long time it will be
Before the struggle is over,
And Christ shall set me free.
The freedom you pray Him to give me
Is not the freedom of death,
But the grace full slow of attainment,—
The spirit that quickeneth
All aspiration and motion,
And every out-going breath.
Is not the freedom of death,
But the grace full slow of attainment,—
The spirit that quickeneth
All aspiration and motion,
And every out-going breath.
86
The awful love which knoweth
Nor limit nor period;
Which crowneth with bloom and fruitage
The dry, unsightly rod;—
To live is to love, my darling,
To love is to be like God.
Nor limit nor period;
Which crowneth with bloom and fruitage
The dry, unsightly rod;—
To live is to love, my darling,
To love is to be like God.
I was sore athirst, anhungered,
And weary upon the feet,
As I stood by those red, red apples
Which tempted me sore to eat;—
The bitterest thing at that moment
To me would have tasted sweet.
And weary upon the feet,
As I stood by those red, red apples
Which tempted me sore to eat;—
The bitterest thing at that moment
To me would have tasted sweet.
Oh, bread that I might have eaten!
Oh, stoup of strengthening wine!
Oh, bread for the whole world's hunger!
Oh, juice of the living vine!
God's life that I might have taken,
And I turned away mine eyne.
Oh, stoup of strengthening wine!
Oh, bread for the whole world's hunger!
Oh, juice of the living vine!
God's life that I might have taken,
And I turned away mine eyne.
Dear, fold your arms around me,
Who am faint and tired and weak;
And pillow my head on your shoulder,
And lay my cheek to your cheek,
O love, my love,—and be silent,
If so it please you, or speak.
Who am faint and tired and weak;
And pillow my head on your shoulder,
And lay my cheek to your cheek,
O love, my love,—and be silent,
If so it please you, or speak.
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