1 Corinthians 13



Love is gentle, love is kind
Love is not brash, nor proud, nor of a narrow mind
It is not envious or angry, I daresay
Nor is it rude or conniving in its own merry way
It doesn't remember your sin-cluttered slates
It keeps neither time stamps, calendars nor dates
It does not delight in the ardent supplicated evil of man
Only in truth does it rejoice like a committed, awestruck fan
It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres
Love never fails, neither against windswept plight or amorous fears
For Love will always reign forevermore
Neither prophecy, nor tongues, nor knowledge can claim that score
Because, as you well know, they are just mere limitations
As is everything else with one exception
For when they all croak and disappear,
Love will be the only throne left standing here
“And now,” as Paul hath said, “I will show you the most excellent way.”
In this, I suppose he meant to edify upon your day:
“If I speak in the tongues of men and angels
But have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging symbol.
If I have the gift of prophesy
If I can fathom all knowledge and mystery
If I have a faith that can move mountains fielding
Yet not have love, then all I am is nothing
Finally give all I have to the poor
Surrender my body to the flames and more
But not have love, I gain nothing.”
Now isn't that truly something?
Because you see, “And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love.
Yet, saved only by the cross are we, because “But the greatest of these is love.”
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Submitted on September 05, 2015

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:25 min read
13

Quick analysis:

Scheme AABBCCDDEEFFGHFFBBIJBFKKFFKKLL
Closest metre Iambic hexameter
Characters 1,499
Words 284
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 30

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