Now I knew I lost her－1
Not that she was gone－
But Remoteness travelled
On her Face and Tongue.
Alien, though adjoining 5
As a Foreign Race－
Traversed she though pausing
Latitudeless Place.
Elements Unaltered－9
Universe the same
But Love's transmigration－
Somehow this had come－
Henceforth to remember 13
Nature took the Day
I had paid so much for－
His is Penury
Not who toils for Freedom 17
Or for Family
But the Restitution
Of Idolatry.
Not that she was gone－
But Remoteness travelled
On her Face and Tongue.
Alien, though adjoining 5
As a Foreign Race－
Traversed she though pausing
Latitudeless Place.
Elements Unaltered－9
Universe the same
But Love's transmigration－
Somehow this had come－
Henceforth to remember 13
Nature took the Day
I had paid so much for－
His is Penury
Not who toils for Freedom 17
Or for Family
But the Restitution
Of Idolatry.
(F.1274/J.1219)
[1–20] A nun reviewed her life and knew that she had lost herself. This poem says that to be a nun isn't the true way in believing God but idolatry. The three pronouns here, I, her, and His, stand for a nun, the nun's own self before she became a nun, and God.
[1] I:: a nun for many years. her:: her own self before she became a nun.
[2] gone:: away from the mundane world.
[3, 4] Remoteness, Face, Tongue:: with veil and kept silence.
[6] Foreign:: with a different life style.
[7] Traversed:: passed over her earthly life.
[8] Latitudeless Place:: a restricted place, convent.
[9] Elements Unaltered:: they are still human beings.
[11] Love's transmigration:: a change from loving human to God.
[15] I:: a nun.
[16] His, Penury:: God has paid very little.
[17] toils for Freedom, Family:: the reason to be a nun.
[19] Restitution:: the torment of being a nun is the price of idolatry.
[20] Idolatry:: the worship of idols or anything which is not God.