WeRead
Powered by ReaderPub
A sequence of short lyric poems meditates on devotion, longing, and the soul's passage from youthful abundance to mature offering. Using natural and seasonal imagery—fruit, flowers, river, wind—the poems describe inner movement toward a beloved or master, the shedding of social honors and possessions, and the readiness to set forth on a spiritual journey. Stylistically spare and intimate, the verses alternate tender longing, parablelike episodes, and exhortations to openness, emphasizing surrender, inward illumination, and the simple act of giving.
It decks me only to mock me, this jewelled chain of mine.
It bruises me when on my neck, it strangles me when I struggle to tear it off.
It grips my throat, it chokes my singing.
Could I but offer it to your hand, my Lord, I would be saved.
Take it from me, and in exchange bind me to you with a garland, for I am ashamed to stand before you with this jewelled chain on my neck.