Classic Poem

Write me no more. Let all communion end.
We left the world, to purify our thought.
But prayer is vain, and penance comes to nought,
When human passions with our hearts contend.
No alchemist within the heart can blend
Desire and faith; the peace which we have sought,
By crucifixion of the flesh is bought.
Let rites redouble, and let prayers ascend.
Your letters prove my foes. When I would gird
God's armor on, and pinion to the dust
Regrets that bar my path to Paradise,
I fall inert, before each burning word;
Resolve is slain, as by a dagger-thrust;
And Christ is hidden by your ardent eyes.