LOVE Love, that is first and last of all things made, The - TopicsExpress



          

LOVE Love, that is first and last of all things made, The light that has the living world for shade, The spirit that for temporal veil has on The souls of all men woven in unison, One fiery raiment with all lives inwrought And lights of sunny and starry deed and thought, And alway through new act and passion new Shines the divine same body and beauty through, The body spiritual of fire and light That is to worldly noon as noon to night; Love, that is flesh upon the spirit of man And spirit within the flesh whence breath began; Love, that keeps all the choir of lives in chime; Love, that is blood within the veins of time; That wrought the whole world without stroke of hand, Shaping the breadth of sea, the length of land, And with the pulse and motion of his breath Through the great heart of the earth strikes life and death, The sweet twain chords that make the sweet tune live Through day and night of things alternative, Through silence and through sound of stress and strife, And ebb and flow of dying death and life: Love, that sounds loud or light in all mens ears, Whence all mens eyes take fire from sparks of tears, That binds on all mens feet or chains or wings; Love that is root and fruit of terrene things; Love, that the whole worlds waters shall not drown, The whole worlds fiery forces not burn down; Love, that what time his own hands guard his head The whole worlds wrath and strength shall not strike dead; Love, that if once his own hands make his grave The whole worlds pity and sorrow shall not save; Love, that for very life shall not be sold, Nor bought nor bound with iron nor with gold; So strong that heaven, could love bid heaven farewell, Would turn to fruitless and unflowering hell; So sweet that hell, to hell could love be given, Would turn to splendid and sonorous heaven; Love that is fire within thee and light above, And lives by grace of nothing else but of love. ALGERNON CHARLES SWINBURNE From TRISTRAM OF LYONESSE
Posted on: Wed, 20 Aug 2014 21:26:18 +0000

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