Before Love’s lofty goddess—Life hath toiled
To mold from burning dew and dewy fire—
Who kneel and worship with a heart sin-soiled,
Within the secret Temple of Desire;
Their curse is such: that, even while they pray,—
They shall not see, nor shall they know thereof!—
Their Deity is changed from fire to clay—
Lust! fashioned in the very form of Love.