I LIVE with love encompassed round, And glowing light that is not mine, And yet am sad; for, truth to tell, It is not I you love so well; Some fair Immortal, robed and crowned, You hold within your heart's dear shrine. Cast out the Goddess! let me in; Faulty I am, yet all your own, But this bright phantom you enthrone Is such as mortal may not win. And yet this beauty that you see Is like to mine, though nobler far; Your radiant guest resembles me E'en as the sun is like a star. Then keep her in your heart of hearts, And let me look upon her face, And learn of that transcendent grace, Till all my meaner self departs, And, while I love you more and more, My spirit, gazing on the light, Becomes, in loveliness and might, The glorious Vision you adore. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...CONTRA MORTEM: THE MOON by HAYDEN CARRUTH JAWEH AND ALLAH BATTLE by ALLEN GINSBERG JOY (2) by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON TO SAMUEL COLERIDGE UPON HEARING HIS 'SOME I FEEL LIKE A MOTHERLESS..' by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON LOHENGRIN; PROEM by EMMA LAZARUS PICKING AND CHOOSING by MARIANNE MOORE |