Poesia (33) | Alexander Pope - Prayer of St. Francis Xavier

De Alexander Pope aqui deixo, recordando o grande apóstolo do Oriente, o delicado e comovente Prayer of St. Francis Xavier. A trama das temáticas presentes é menos clara do que parece à primeira vista e uma leitura rápida e displicente impedirá retirar do mesmo toda a sua penetrante ambiguidade, mas o desejo da composição é mesmo esse. A sorver em pequenos goles de atenção.

Prayer of St. Francis Xavier

                             Thou art my God, sole object of my love;
                             Not for the hope of endless joys above;
                             Nor for the fear of endless pains below,
                             Which they who love thee not must undergo.

                             For me, and such as me, thou deign'st to bear
                             An ignominious cross, the nails, the spear:
                             A thorny crown transpierc'd thy sacred brow,
                             While bloody sweats from ev'ry member flow.

                             For me in tortures thou resignd'st thy breath,
                             Embrac'd me on the cross, and sav'd me by thy death.
                             And can these sufferings fail my heart to move?

                             What but thyself can now deserve my love?

                             Such as then was, and is, thy love to me,
                             Such is, and shall be still, my love to thee -
                             To thee, Redeemer! mercy's sacred spring!
                             My God, my Father, Maker, and my King!