Oh Life I Have Taken You For My Lover

Oh, Life, I have taken you for my Lover,

I rent your veils and I found you fair ;

If a fault or failing my eyes discover,

I will not see it; it is not there !

I know, if I knew, I should hold you dearer,

Should understand, if I understood,

For I worship more, as you draw me nearer,

Your reckless Evil, your perfect Good.

In the Jungle gloom, we have watched and waited,

For stealthy Panthers, that prowl by night,

At the end of some weary march, belated,

We heard strange tales by the camp-fire light.

We have lain on the starlit sands, untented,

While low-hung planets rose white and fair,

And in moonlit gardens, silver and scented,

Oh, Life, my Lover, how sweet you were !

Forbidden and barbarous rites were shown us,

In rock-hewn Temples and jungle caves,

And the smoke-wreathed home of the dead has known us,

The burning-ghat by the Ganges waves

Ah, the long, lone ride through the starlit hours,

The long, lone watch on the starlit sea,

And the flame and flush of the morning flowers

When Life, my Lover, was kind to me !

Betimes we were out on the Sea, together;

The vessel raced down the great green slope

Of mountainous waves, in desperate weather ;

The hearts of men were adrift from hope.

As over the deck, in exultant fashion,

The violent water crashed and fell,

I knew, through the joy of your reckless passion,

Agonised fear of the last farewell.

But I follow you always, unresisting,

To lowest depth ; to uttermost brink,

From a thirst like mine there is no desisting

Though given poison for wine to drink.

You may do your utmost, you will not shake me,

Your faith may falter ; my faith is true.

Oh, Life, you may shatter and rend and break me,

All Pain is Pleasure, that springs from you !

In the height and heat of your wildest passion,

You had your uttermost will of me,

And when have I asked for the least compassion ?

A lover loved is a lover free !

Though, with never a word of farewell spoken

In lonely wilds of some Desert place,

You have flung me from you, adrift and broken,

To wait the child of your last embrace.

And never my faith nor my fervour faltered,

Until you turned to my lips again,

When, my eager longing for you unaltered

Your first kiss cancelled my months of pain.

Ah, Life, you may torture my soul, betray me,

The right is yours, as Lover and Lord.

And when in the climax of all, you slay me,

My lips in dying will seek your sword.

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Poems in English 

• Spain 1873–’74. by Walt Whitman by Walt Whitman
• Souvenirs of Democracy. by Walt Whitman by Walt Whitman
• Song of the Universal. by Walt Whitman by Walt Whitman
• Song of the Redwood-Tree. by Walt Whitman by Walt Whitman
• Song of the Open Road. by Walt Whitman by Walt Whitman
• Song of the Exposition. by Walt Whitman by Walt Whitman
• Song of the Broad-Axe. by Walt Whitman by Walt Whitman
• Song for All Seas, All Ships. by Walt Whitman by Walt Whitman
• Song at Sunset. by Walt Whitman by Walt Whitman
• Sometimes with One I Love. by Walt Whitman by Walt Whitman
• Solid, Ironical, Rolling Orb. by Walt Whitman by Walt Whitman
• Sobbing of The Bells, The. by Walt Whitman by Walt Whitman
• So Long. by Walt Whitman by Walt Whitman
• So Far and So Far, and on Toward the End. by Walt Whitman by Walt Whitman
• The Sleepers by Walt Whitman by Walt Whitman
• Singer in the Prison, The. by Walt Whitman by Walt Whitman
• Sing of the Banner at Day-Break. by Walt Whitman by Walt Whitman
• Shut Not Your Doors, &c. by Walt Whitman by Walt Whitman
• Ship Starting, The. by Walt Whitman by Walt Whitman
• Scented Herbage of My Breast. by Walt Whitman by Walt Whitman

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Duckduckgo – the real alternative and a search engine that actually works. Without much censorship or partisan politics.

Yahoo– yes, it’s still around, amazingly, miraculously, incredibly, but now it seems to be powered by Bing.

 

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