A Prayer From St. Augustine
Late have I loved you,
0 beauty ever ancient, ever new!
Late have I loved you
And behold, you were within, and I without,
and without I sought you.
And deformed, I ran after
those forms of beauty you have made.
You were with me, and I was not with you,
those things held me back from you,
things whose only being was to be in you.
You called, you cried,
and you broke through my deafness.
You illumined, you shone,
and you chased away my blindness.
You became fragrant and
I inhaled and sighed for you.
I tasted, and now hunger and thirst for you.
You touched me and I burned for your embrace.