Classic Poem

( FROM THE ITALIAN OF ST. FRANCIS D'ASSISI .)

Our Lord Speaks:

And though I fill thy heart with warmest love,
Yet in true order must thy heart love me;
For without order can no virtue be.
By thine own virtue, then, I, from above
Stand in thy soul; and so, most earnestly,
Must love from turmoil be kept wholly free.
The life of fruitful trees, the seasons of
The circling year, move gently as a dove.
I measured all the things upon the earth;
Love ordered them, and order kept them fair,
And love to order must be truly wed.
O soul, why all this heat of little worth?
Why cast out order with no thought or care?
For by love's warmth must love be governed.