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Poems (Jackson)/Love's Fulfilling

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4579646Poems — Love's FulfillingHelen Hunt Jackson
LOVE'S FULFILLING.
O LOVE is weak
Which counts the answers and the gains,
Weighs all the losses and the pains,
And eagerly each fond word drains
       A joy to seek.

       When Love is strong,
It never tarries to take heed,
Or know if its return exceed
Its gifts; in its sweet haste no greed,
       No strifes belong.

       It hardly asks
If it be loved at all; to take
So barren seems, when it can make
Such bliss, for the beloved sake,
       Of bitter tasks.

       Its ecstasy
Could find hard death so beauteous,
It sees through tears how Christ loved us,
And speaks, in saying "I love thus,"
       No blasphemy.

       So much we miss
If love is weak, so much we gain
If love is strong, God thinks no pain
Too sharp or lasting to ordain
       To teach us this.