Temple De La Douleur
My soul has suffered breaking on the wheel,
Flogging with lead, and felt the twinging ache
Of barbèd hooks and jagged points of steel,
Peine forte et dure, slow burning at the stake,
Blinding and branding, stripping on the rack,
The canque and kourbash and the torquéd screw,
The boot and branks, red scourging on the back,
The gallows and the gibbet. All for you.
These tortures are as nothing to the pain
That I have suffered when you gaze at me
With cold disdainful eyes. You do not deign
To smile or talk or even set me free–
Yet once you let me hold your perfumed hand
And danced with me a stately saraband.
