Time was, O Love, when I a vassal knelt,
Obedient, at the footstool of thy throne;
When all my life was thine–yea, every thought
Thy very own.
Yet, when I hungered most, and prayed that thou
Wouldst give to me some little that I gave,
Thou didst but mock me, knowing what I was–
Thy willing slave.
Yet, though fast bound in shackle and in chain.
Pride rose in me, and thou wert cast aside;
And long I blessed the day when thou from me
Wenst forth and died.
How long ago it was I broke my thrall!
How long since I have kept apart from thee,
Vowing that nevermore my heart should know
Thy tyranny!
And yet today I felt the old desire,
After long years of freedom from thy reign;
And I have dreamed, full many a night, of Love’s
Exquisite pain.
No strength of mine can hold thee back, O Love!
I thought that I was safe beyond thy will;
But after long, long years, lo! here am I,
Obedient still!
Charles Hanson Towne
(Charles Hanson Towne)
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Based on Topics: Love Poems, Life Poems, Night Poems, Time Poems, Pain Poems, Pride Poems, Liberty & Freedom Poems, Desire Poems, Slavery Poems, Tyranny & Despotism PoemsBased on Keywords: towne, vowing, shackle, footstool, hungered, hanson, wenst
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