When With Thy Life Thou Didst Encompass Mine

WHEN with thy life thou didst encompass mine,
And I beheld, as from an infinite height,
Thy love stretch pure and beautiful as light,
Through utmost joy I hardly could divine
Whether my love of thee it was, or thine,
Which so my heart astonished with its might.
But now at length familiar with the sight,
So I can bear to look where planets shine,
Ever more deep the wonder grows to be
That thou shouldst love me ; while my love of thee
Does of my being seem a second part;
Still often now as from a dream I start,
To think that thou, even thou, — thou lovest me,
I being what I am, thou what thou art.

Philip Bourke Marston.