As far as the East is set from the West

As far as the East is set from the West, 
  As far as the North from the South,
So far is my breast set from thy breast 
  As far as the North from the South,
And my mouth from thy mouth.
I in the East and thou in the West
And nought between us but deep unrest.

In the East there liveth unresting pain,
  And pain in the sullen West,
And the sea keeps peace between us twain,
  And the sea is never at rest.
For the winds that torture a barren main, 
Are full of the messages twixt us twain.

Bound hands stretched from the sullen West, 
  To fettered hands in the East;
And Love, a troubled and wearied guest 
  And Love, a hopeless priest.
Building his altar in east and west,
And two hearts hoping aye for the best.

Shall my eyes always turn to the west 
  As thine toward the east?
Can a love that found its spring in the west
  Die in the glaring east?
Shall we each find comfort where we be
With never a thought for over the sea?

  Shade that lieth equally,
  On Western sea and Eastern sea, 
  Who can tell what the end can be?

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