All this is flashy rhetoric about loving you. br I never had a selfless thought since I was born. br I am mercenary and self-seeking through and through: br I want God, you, all friends, merely to serve my turn. br br Peace, re-assurance, pleasure, are the goals I seek, br I cannot crawl one inch outside my proper skin: br I talk of love --a scholar's parrot may talk Greek-- br But, self-imprisoned, always end where I begin. br br Only that now you have taught me (but how late) my lack. br I see the chasm. And everything you are was making br My heart into a bridge by which I might get back br From exile, and grow man. And now the bridge is breaking. br br For this I bless you as the ruin falls. The pains br You give me are more precious than all other gains.