Beloved thro’ all my good, thro’ all mine ill

Lord, grant me grace to love Thee in my pain.
Thro’ all my disappointment love Thee still,
Thy love my strong foundation and my hill,
Tho’ I be such as cometh not again
A fading leaf, a spark upon the wane:
So evermore do Thou Thy perfect Will
Beloved thro’ all my good, thro’ all mine ill,
Beloved tho’ all my love beside be vain.
If thus I love Thee, how wilt Thou love me,
Thou who art greater than my heart? (Amen)
Will Thou bestow a part, withold a part?
The longing of my heart cries out to Thee,
The hungering, thirsting, longing of my heart:
What I forewent, wilt Thou not grant me then?

- Christina Rossetti