Summary

The poem begins with an unnamed speaker addressing God, saying that he brings to Him a "broken altar" (1). The altar is composed of a human heart and is held together by the speaker's tears. The altar, the speaker notes, has not been changed in any way, and the "stones" he uses to build it are the same ones that God originally created.

The speaker explains that only God has the power to "cut" the stone of his altar and shape it (8). He therefore mobilizes "each part" of his "hard heart" to form the altar in order to praise God (9-10). He imagines that, if he is to die, the altar will serve as the means for him to continue to celebrate God even after his death.

At the end of the poem, the speaker asks God to let His sacrifice be the speaker's, while...