YET TIME TO TURN 
51 
 
 
 
YET TIME TO TURN 
 
Brighter than snow on glittering Alps, the soul 
Of my lost love was, bluer than the haze 
Of those same hills, more violent and deep 
Her eyes’ clear gaze, 
Dreaming of hidden wonders ;  and the goal 
Of life grew luminous o’er Time’s empurpled steep. 
 
She loved me then ;  she loves me now, afar. 
Ah, she knew not !  and I, so steeped and stained 
With fierce sins, knew myself unworthy of 
The heart I gained, 
And, a lost mariner whose polar star 
He is ashamed to look to, cast away her love. 
 
I would not have her love a thing so vile, 
I would not link her life with such as mine ! 
O cursed sin, to leave my soul too high 
To cheat the shrine ! 
I drave Love forth, Love lingered yet awhile 
So that I might not quite win Hell before I die.