And so it ends



And so it ends,
We who were lovers may be friends.
I have some weeks in which to steel
My heart and teach myself to feel
Only a sober tenderness
Where once was passion's loveliness.

I had not thought that there would come
Your touch to make our music dumb,
Your meeting touch upon the string
That still was vibrant, still could sing
When I impatiently might wait
Or parted from you at the gate.

You took me weak and unprepared.
I had not thought that you who shared
My days, my nights, my heart, my life,
Would slash me with a naked knife
And gently tell me not to bleed
But to accept your crazy creed.

You speak of God, but you have cut
The one last thread, as you have shut
The one last door that open stood
To show me still the way to God.
If this be God, this pain, this evil,
I'd sooner change and try the Devil.

Darling, I thought of nothing mean;
I thought of killing straight and clean.
You're safe; that's gone, that wild caprice,
But tell me once before I cease,
Which does your Church esteem the kinder role,
To kill the body or destroy the soul?

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:03 min read
49

Quick analysis:

Scheme AABBXA CCDDEE FFGGHH IIXXJJ KKLLMM
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,039
Words 208
Stanzas 5
Stanza Lengths 6, 6, 6, 6, 6

Victoria Sackville-West

Victoria Josefa Dolores Catalina Sackville-West, Lady Sackville married her first cousin Lionel Edward Sackville-West, 3rd Baron Sackville. Their daughter was the writer, poet and gardener Vita Sackville-West. more…

All Victoria Sackville-West poems | Victoria Sackville-West Books

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    "And so it ends" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Mar. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/37842/and-so-it-ends>.

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