Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

TO THE LORD LOVE (AT THE APPROACH OF OLD AGE), by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: I am thy fugitive, thy votary
Last Line: Keep me perpetual in grace and fire!
Alternate Author Name(s): Field, Michael (with Edith Emma Cooper)
Subject(s): Aging; Love


I am thy fugitive, thy votary,
Nor even thy mother tempts me from thy shrine:
Mirror, nor gold, nor ornament of mine
Appease her: thou art all my gods to me,
And I so breathless in my loyalty,
Youth hath slipped by and left no footprint sign:
Yet there are footsteps nigh. My years decline.
Decline thy years? Burns thy torch duskily?
Lord Love, to thy great altar I retire;
Time doth pursue me, age is on my brow,
And there are cries and shadows of the night.
Transform me, for I cannot quit thee now:
Love, thou hast weapons visionary, bright --
Keep me perpetual in grace and fire!




Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


Other Poems of Interest...
Home: PoetryExplorer.net