Page:Poems Rossetti.djvu/292

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264
"WHEN MY HEART IS VEXED,"
Myself, arch-traitor to myself;
My hollo west friend, my deadliest foe,
My clog whatever road I go.

Yet One there is can curb myself.
Can roll the strangling load from me,
Break off the yoke and set me free.


"WHEN MY HEART IS VEXED, I WILL COMPLAIN."
"O LORD, how canst Thou say Thou lovest me?
Me whom thou settest in a barren land,
Hungry and thirsty on the burning sand,
Hungry and thirsty where no waters be
Nor shadows of date-bearing tree:—
O Lord, how canst Thou say Thou lovest me?"

"I came from Edom by as parched a track,
As rough a track beneath My bleeding feet.
I came from Edom seeking thee, and sweet
I counted bitterness; I turned not back
But counted life as death, and trod
The winepress all alone: and I am God."