Sonnet Xlv. When I Behold Thee, Only Living One Poem by Henry Alford

When I behold thee, only living one
In whom God's image pure and clear I see,
Far beyond all in humble sanctity,
Close at my side, attending me alone;
Strange questioning it raises, wherefore thine
Should be the subject life, and not the free;
Heavenly, but bound in earthly chains to me;
Superior, yet dependent; God's yet mine.
I therefore have been taught to feel at length
That not most precious in the Eternal's sight
Self--guiding freedom is, knowledge, or strength,
Or power of song, or wit's deceiving light;
But yielding meekness, careless to be free,
And the clear flame of love in chastity,