Love Cast Out by Sheila Kaye-Smith

Name: Love Cast Out
Author: Sheila Kaye-Smith

"Love Cast Out" presents the lament of a crowned, pierced, adored victim whose eyes burn with fire and whose heart bears a sword, who declares herself sister to Christ because He too felt the thirsty wound by which she must perish. She recalls how Christ came as an uncrowned king, unrobed, the Son of Loss, and how He was pierced and hung upon the cross. By contrast, her own love wore no robe and no crown; he was a pilgrim who walked the roads in pilgrim's brown, a stranger and a dove. Because he went thus, unadorned, those she addresses built a cruel wooden cross and crucified her love, and now bend the knee to worship him as a bleeding sacrifice set at God's right hand, just as they adore Christ. She sets her love's fate apart from Christ's: on the third day the Saviour rose from the dead, put on robes of royalty, and sat down to reign. But her own love, she insists, shall not rise; he shall rest and sleep, for he is tired, and she asks why he should wake merely so that others' eyes may not weep. She contrasts Christ's gentler heart, which permits people to crown what they killed, to eat his torn body and drink his blood as wine, with her refusal to let her own beloved be used in that way. She tells those who would rouse him to go instead, since the world is wide, demanding why they should wake from its poor rest the heart they themselves crucified. She resolves that beneath the tender ground her love shall sleep for ever, with no last trump to sound for him and no resurrection day. The poem closes as it began, with her self-portrait as a victim crowned, pierced, and adored, a flame of fire in her eyes and a sword in her heart.

By Sheila Kaye-Smith · Genre: Religious Poetry, Love Poetry, Lyric Poetry · 449 words

First lines

A victim crowned am I, / Crowned, piercèd, and adored, / In my eyes a flame of fire, / In my heart a sword.

Christ is my brother dear, / Sister to Christ am I, / For He has felt the thirsty wound / That I must perish by.

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Similar titles

Genres

Religious Poetry — The poem centers explicitly on Christian theology and imagery, drawing sustained parallels between the speaker's lost love and Christ's crucifixion, making religious devotion its primary organizing principle.
Love Poetry — The work's fundamental concern is profound romantic love and its tragic loss, with the speaker's devotion to the beloved as the emotional core throughout.
Lyric Poetry — The poem expresses intense personal emotion through musical language, subjective perspective, and emotional intensity characteristic of lyric verse.
Devotional Poetry — The work expresses deep spiritual and romantic devotion, positioning the speaker as a worshipper both of the beloved and of divine sacrifice.

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Love Cast Out is listed on Textopian as a poem by Sheila Kaye-Smith, dated Date unknown.

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Work type: Poem
Author: Sheila Kaye-Smith
Date: Date unknown
Language: English
Genres: Religious Poetry, Love Poetry, Lyric Poetry, Devotional Poetry, Elegiac Poetry
Length: 449 words
Structure: 1 section, 12 paragraphs
Reading fit: Easy (6th Grade)

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