Edward Townsend Booth. To an Authentic Priest. Harriet Monroe, ed. Poetry: A Magazine of Verse. 1912-22

Harriet Monroe, ed. (1860–1936). Poetry: A Magazine of Verse. 1912–22.

To an Authentic Priest

By Edward Townsend Booth


HE weighs me down, this Christ of yours.
He weighs me down—his arm is on
My elbow in the streakèd dawn;
Oppresses he my evening hours;
Still he outshines the manifold	5
Bright rays that centre in my heart.
Much loveliness I knew grows cold
The while his threatening fires start
To gnaw at this old edifice
Of sturdy lusts. Outsavors he	10
The savor of my ancient bliss.
He tempts me to apostasy.