UNWILLING priestess in thy cruel fane, <br />Long hast thou held me, pitiless god of Pain, <br />Bound to thy worship by reluctant vows, <br />My tired breast girt with suffering, and my brows <br />Anointed with perpetual weariness. <br />Long have I borne thy service, through the stress <br />Of rigorous years, sad days and slumberless nights, <br />Performing thine inexorable rites. <br /> <br /> <br />For thy dark altars, balm nor milk nor rice, <br />But mine own soul thou'st ta'en for sacrifice: <br /> <br />All the rich honey of my youth's desire, <br />And all the sweet oils from my crushed life drawn, <br />And all my flower-like dreams and gem-like fire <br />Of hopes up-leaping like the light of dawn. <br /> <br /> <br />I have no more to give, all that was mine <br />Is laid, a wrested tribute, at thy shrine; <br />Let me depart, for my whole soul is wrung, <br />And all my cheerless orisons are sung; <br />Let me depart, with faint limbs let me creep <br />To some dim shade and sink me down to sleep.<br /><br />Sarojini Naidu<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/to-the-god-of-pain/
