Vigils

Was hard and bitter. chapter{Section 4TO AN INTRUDER Because I show a guarded face To all the world but one or two, And in my heart's most secret place Consider lilies, why should you Whose roses grow in common ground Profane the cloister I have found? TOUR DE FORCE Smilingly, out of my pain, I have woven a little song; You may take it away with you. I shall not sing it again, But when you have learned it through It will keep you brave and strong. I wove it out of my pain: There is not a word of it true. VIGILS Once I knelt in my shining mail Here by Thine altar all the night. My heart beat proudly, my prayer rose loudly, But I looked to my armor to win the fight. God, my lance was a broken reed, My mace a toy for a child's delight. My helm is battered, my shield is shattered, I am stiff with wounds, and I lost the fight. Low I kneel through the night again, Hear my prayer, if my prayer be right! Take for Thy token my proud heart broken. God, guide my arm! I go back to the fight. VICTORY I Sheath my sword. In mercy go. Turn back from me your hopeless eyes, For in them all my anger dies: I cannot face a beaten foe. My cause was just, the fight was sweet. Go from me, O mine enemy, Before, in shame of victory, You find me kneeling at your feet. BOUND If I had loved you, soon, ah, soon I had lost you. Had I been kind you had kissed me and gone your faithless way. The kiss... --This text refers to the Paperback edition.