XVI
Let me take leave of you as heretofore
With solemn kiss and sacred reverence!
I love you better and I love you more
Daily, and whether you are hither or hence,
I adore you as I adore the holy ones
That do abide exalted in their shrine
Starry beyond mere splendour of stars and suns.
Drunken beyond mere Dionysian wine.
Thus do I hold you; thus I pray you hold
Me as a secret and a blessed chrism
That you have gained to adorn your house of gold
By some strange silent sacred exorcism.
You have said 'I love you'—sacraments are true—
I exchange the salutation. I love you
With solemn kiss and sacred reverence!
I love you better and I love you more
Daily, and whether you are hither or hence,
I adore you as I adore the holy ones
That do abide exalted in their shrine
Starry beyond mere splendour of stars and suns.
Drunken beyond mere Dionysian wine.
Thus do I hold you; thus I pray you hold
Me as a secret and a blessed chrism
That you have gained to adorn your house of gold
By some strange silent sacred exorcism.
You have said 'I love you'—sacraments are true—
I exchange the salutation. I love you
— 64 —
