George Meredith

Modern Love. Sonnet 44. They Say, that Pity in Love's Service Dwells

They say, that Pity in Love's service dwells,
A porter at the rosy temple's gate,
I missed him going: but it s my fate
To come upon him now beside his wells:
Whereby I know that I Love's temple leave,
And that the purple doors have closed behind.
Poor soul! if in the early days unkind,
Thy power to sting had been but power to grieve,
We now might with an equal spirit meet,
And not be matched like innocence and vice.
She for the Temple's worship has paid price,
And takes the coin of Pity as a cheat.
She sees through simulation to the bone:
What's best in her impels her to the worst:
Never, she cries, shall Pity soothe Love's thirst,
Or foul hypocrisy for truth atone!