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!