Poems (Rossetti, 1901)/Why?
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WHY?
LORD, if I love Thee and Thou lovest me, Why need I any more these toilsome days, Why should I not run singing up Thy waysStraight into heaven, to rest myself with Thee?What need remains of death-pang yet to be, If all my soul is quickened in Thy praise; If all my heart loves Thee, what need the amaze,Struggle and dimness of an agony?—Bride whom I love, if thou too lovest Me, Thou needs must choose My Likeness for thy dower: So wilt thou toil in patience, and abide Hungering and thirsting for that blessed hourWhen I My Likeness shall behold in thee, And thou therein shalt waken satisfied.