Late have I loved you, O beauty ever ancient, ever new!
Late have I loved you.
And behold, you were within, and I without, and without I sought you.
And deformed, I ran after those forms of beauty you have made.
You were with me, and I was not with you; those things held me back from you, things whose only being was to be in you.
You called; you cried; and you broke through my deafness.
You flamed; you shone; and you chased away my blindness.
You became fragrant; and I inhaled and sighed for you.
I tasted, and now hunger and thirst for you.
You touched me; and I burned for your embrace.