A poem by Sister Madeleva

It is so very strange that, loving me,
You should ensnare the freedom I find sweet,
Catch in your cunning will my flying feet.
I will not barter love for liberty;
You cannot break and tame me utterly.
For when your careful conquest is complete
Shall victory be swallowed in defeat.
You hold me only when you set me free.
Because my straight, wild ways are in your power
Do not believe that I surrender them.
Untrammeled love is all I have to give.
If you would keep it, do not pluck the flower;
Leave it, I beg, unbroken on its stem,
Wild with the wind and weather! Let it live!