Poems (Tree)/My Pain has All the Patience of a Nun
MY pain has all the patience of a nunWho kneels and prays for Heaven on the stone,In some chill cellar where the amens moan,Ave Maria, the long penance spunForever. And the tapers one by oneStand like cold angels round the Virgin's throne.My soul is tired from kneeling all alone,Its little candles yearning to the sun.
Long have I dreamed of Paradise and seenBright mirages of glory on the greyOf sad horizons; I have kept the greenSurprise of spring through winter and dismay,Tasting within the bitter dregs of spleenDrugs that bring peace, and wine that maketh gay.
1917