Late have I loved thee

O Beauty so ancient and so new,
late have I loved thee.

Behold, thou wast within
and I was without,
and I sought thee out there;

And among the lovely things
that thou hast made,
unlovely that I am, I heedlessly rushed .

Thou wast with me,
but I was not with thee.

These things kept me far from thee
(they that would not be, were they not in thee).

Thou didst call and cry aloud,
and didst force open my deafness.

Thou didst gleam and shine,
and didst chase away my blindness.

Thou didst breathe fragrant odors
and I drew in my breath;
and now I pant for thee.

I tasted,
and now I hunger and thirst.

Thou didst touch me,
and I burned for thy peace.

Sero te amavi,
pulchritudo tam antiqua et tam nova,
sero te amavi!

et ecce intus eras
et ego foris,
et ibi te quaerebam,
et in ista formosa,
quae fecisti,
deformis inruebam.

mecum eras,
et tecum non eram.

ea me tenebant longe a te,
quae si in te non essent, non essent.

vocasti et clamasti
et rupisti surditatem meam:

coruscasti,
splenduisti et fugasti caecitatem meam:

fragrasti, et duxi spiritum,
et anhelo tibi,

gustavi
et esurio et sitio,

tetigisti me,
et exarsi in pacem tuam.

(Confessions of St. Augustine, X.xxvii[38])