I have sought and followed you, drunk with your sacred wine; <br />Led out by a laughing wind on a tumbling sea, <br />On crags amid clouds, in cups that allure the bee, <br />And deep in the gem-lit gloom of the tortuous mine, <br />And on widespread wings where the great worlds dance and shine <br />I have sought by the golden light; but have bent the knee <br />At last where you lie, a humble goddess and free, <br />Naked and flushed in the warmth of a crimson shrine. <br />The hordes of hate have trampled your blooms in mire, <br />And cackle and roar as their mockery priests blaspheme, <br />And sing the marching hymn of a wingless might. <br />They forge their god in the heat of unholy fire <br />The squat strong incubus born of an evil dream; <br />And it shrinks and crumbles away in the golden light.<br /><br />John Le Gay Brereton<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/beauty-and-hate/
