All this is flashy rhetoric about loving you.
I never had a selfless thought since I was born.
I am mercenary and self-seeking through and through:
I want God, you, all friends, merely to serve my turn.
Peace, re-assurance, pleasure, are the goals I seek,
I cannot crawl one inch outside my proper skin:
I talk of love –a scholar’s parrot may talk Greek–
But, self-imprisoned, always end where I begin.
Only that now you have taught me (but how late) my lack.
I see the chasm. And everything you are was making
My heart into a bridge by which I might get back
From exile, and grow man. And now the bridge is breaking.
For this I bless you as the ruin falls. The pains
You give me are more precious than all other gains.
(C. S. Lewis)
More Poetry from C. S. Lewis:
C. S. Lewis Poems based on Topics: Man, God, War & Peace, Love, Pleasure, Friendship, Education, Goals- Cliche Came Out of its Cage (C. S. Lewis Poems)
- In Praise of Solid People (C. S. Lewis Poems)
- How He Saw Angus, The God (C. S. Lewis Poems)
- Dungeon Grates (C. S. Lewis Poems)
- De Profundis (C. S. Lewis Poems)
- L'Apprenti Sorcier (C. S. Lewis Poems)
Readers Who Like This Poem Also Like:
Based on Topics: Love Poems, Man Poems, God Poems, War & Peace Poems, Friendship Poems, Education Poems, Pleasure Poems, Goals PoemsBased on Keywords: flashy, self-seeking, re-assurance, self-imprisoned