| J. C. Squire, ed. A Book of Women’s Verse. 1921. | | | | Renouncement | | By Alice Meynell (1847–1922) |
| | | I MUST not think of thee; and, tired yet strong, | |
| I shun the thought that lurks in all delight— | |
| The thought of thee—and in the blue Heaven’s height, | |
| And in the sweetest passage of a song. | |
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| Oh, just beyond the fairest thoughts that throng | 5 |
| This breast, the thought of thee waits, hidden tho’ bright; | |
| Yet it must never, never come in sight; | |
| I must stop short of thee the whole day long. | |
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| But when sleep comes to close each difficult day, | |
| When night gives pause to the long watch I keep, | 10 |
| And all my bonds I needs must loose apart, | |
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| Must doff my will as raiment laid away,— | |
| With the first dream that comes with the first sleep | |
| I run, I run, I am gathered to thy heart. | | | | |
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