FEAR HAS CAST OUT LOVE <br />'Tis not that love is less or sorrow more <br />Than in the days when first these things began. <br />Even then you doubted, and our hearts were sore <br />And you rebelled because I was a man. <br />Even then you fought and wrestled with my plan <br />Of earthly bliss. What bitter anguish too <br />When at the hour decreed our passion ran <br />Out of our keeping and love claimed its due! <br />'Tis not love's fault we part, or grief's. Alas, <br />One mightier now compels us with His nod. <br />The fire of Heaven has touched us, and we pass <br />From pleasure's chastenings to a fiercer rod; <br />And fear has cast out love, for flesh is grass <br />And we are withered with the wrath of God.<br /><br />Wilfrid Scawen Blunt<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-love-sonnets-of-proteus-part-ii-to-juliet-xxxvi/
