Chapter XII

At that time when in loneliness I stood,
And desolation deep within me froze
My life, you shone from out the multitude--
A glowing window on a winter eve
Across the windy surface of the snows.
Your piteous heart brought sweet reprieve,
Caressingly, to me in need,
Like breath of spring from off some warmèd mead.
And faith did then command
That frankness, tenderness and troth
Should dwell with friendly hand in hand
Within the wind-hushed stillness of us both.
Since then, though summer melts the winter cold
Within, and under skies whose leaping fire
Designs with gold
All the winding pathways of our thought;
Though flaming love itself is brought
To far-flung blossoms of desire,
That endlessly, to gain in might,
Seek endless birth anew;
Always I look to that dear light
Whose sweetness first I knew.