The Flaming Heart

Song Meaning

The lyrics present a powerful invocation to a "flaming heart," personified as a divine or intensely passionate entity. This heart is characterized by its dual nature, capable of both inflicting and enduring pain, embodying love's "equal poise." The narrator implores this heart to inhabit their own being, suggesting a desire for transformation and a surrender to overwhelming passion. The imagery of "conquering leaves" and a "triumphant flame" sets a tone of fierce, almost militant, devotion. The central tension lies in the narrator's plea for self-annihilation through this heart's influence. They ask for their "self and sin" to be taken away, viewing this "gracious robbery" as their "best fortunes." This isn't a gentle assimilation but a forceful takeover, where the "scatter'd shafts of light" are urged to "break in" and obliterate the existing self. The narrator desires to "die" unto their own life, mirroring the "mystic deaths" and "love-slain witnesses" associated with the flaming heart. The most striking craft element is the relentless, almost ritualistic, series of appeals. The narrator invokes the heart's "dow'r of lights and fires," its "eagle" and "dove" aspects, its "lives and deaths of love," and its "thirsts of love." This accumulation of attributes builds an image of an entity of immense, multifaceted power. The repeated command, "Leave nothing of my self in me," underscores the depth of the narrator's desire for complete absorption and rebirth through this passionate force.