p. 290 | SAINT THERESA TO OUR LORD by Maurice F. Egan

Seventh-Day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Thursday, May 6, 1880

FromThe Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, Vol. 55, No. 19

SAINT THERESA TO OUR LORD.

By Maurice F. Egan

[From the French of a sonnet by Sainte-Beuve.]

I do not love thee for the joys, O Lord, Which thou hast promised souls who love thee well; I do not fear thee for the fires of hell, Which burn for those whose right to thy reward Is lost by sin; but with the whole accord Of mind and soul, and longing heart as well, I love thee for the time when thou didst dwell, Scorned, on the earth, mocked by a faithless horde. Were there no Heaven, I would love thee still. I love thee for thy cross, thy thorn-crowned head; For thy sweet passion, Lord, I love thee best; And though in firmest hope I wait thy will, Compared with love my firmest hope is dead, For, without hope, in love I'd trusting rest.

—Maurice F. Egan, in Independent.