Life hurt me —
But I welcomed even pain —
So keen I was the full deep cup to drain,
I courted all the clamor and the strife,
The grief, the joy — I was in love with life.

Death hurt me —
But I wept and bowed my head
To learn the lesson Christ interpreted.
With dear Love's help I raised my anguished eyes
And thought I read the message of the skies.

And then Love hurt me —
And I lost the whole
Of faith and peace. " Ah! " cried my struggling soul,
" If Love can fail its own, why live? " it said —
And lo! still-born, I found my soul was dead!