Abelard to Heloise, 8

Religion bids me hold my thoughts in check,
Since love in me can have no further part;
But as wild billows dash upon a wreck,
So passions rise and beat upon my heart.
The habit of the penitent I wear,
The altars where I grovel bring no peace;
God gives not heed nor answer to my prayer,
Because the flames within me do not cease:
They are but hid with ashes, and I lack
The strength to flood them with a grace divine,
For memory forever drags me back
And bids me worship at the olden shrine.
Your image rises, shrouded in its veil,
And all my resolutions droop and fail.
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