Poems (Gifford)/"Love . . . as I have Loved"
"LOVE . . . AS I HAVE LOVED.(John xiii. 34, 35.)
Fain would I love as Thou hast done, My Saviour and my Lord;Thee would I love for all the love Thou hast on me outpoured.
Fain would I love as Thou hast loved Thine own dear family,Thy friends, Thy brethren, fellow-heirs, Those who are one with Thee.
Fain would I love as Thou hast loved The evil and the good,And make Thy love to all around More fully understood.
How didst Thou sympathise and bless, And minister alway!Then unto death Thou lovedst, Lord;— Let me so love, I pray.
How can it be? This earth-bound heart Is selfish, dull, and cold;My impotence, My worthlessness Cannot in words be told.
Nor can words tell the perfectness To which I would attain;To be like Thee, to love as Thou,— This height how can I gain?
Oh! not all hopelessly I long To grow somewhat like Thee:With the command Thou dost provide All possibility.
Thy Spirit can the work achieve, And form my heart anew,Implant and nourish love divine, And every sin subdue.
Beyond all thought then let there brood O'er me Thy holy Dove;Yea, fill me with Thy fulness, Lord, To work in me such love.