I love to read, but poetry is usually a stretch for me. I suspect I think mostly in prose ;-) Poetry, like music, has the potential to speak past the mind to the soul and heart. Maybe I rarely take the time to listen. I read fast, but in order to appreciate a poem I must slow down and actually think. Today I took the time (all of five minutes) to read and allow this poem to speak to my heart. Like music, like the psalms, this poem expressed my thoughts and longings more eloquently that I could.
LOVE (III)
by George Herbert
Love bade me welcome, yet my soul drew back,
Guilty of dust and sin.
But quick-ey'd Love, observing me grow slack
From my first entrance in,
Drew nearer to me, sweetly questioning
If I lack'd anything.
"A guest," I answer'd, "worthy to be here";
Love said, "You shall be he."
"I, the unkind, the ungrateful? ah my dear,
I cannot look on thee."
Love took my hand and smiling did reply,
"Who made the eyes but I?"
"Truth, Lord, but I have marr'd them; let my shame
Go where it doth deserve."
"And know you not," says Love, "who bore the blame?"
"My dear, then I will serve."
"You must sit down," says Love, "and taste my meat."
So I did sit and eat.
http://www.luminarium.org/sevenlit/herbert/love3.htm
