To Peace (Shakespearan Sonnet)

O Peace! For ages haven't we invoked
Your grace by chanting your name ceaselessly?
We're sorely tired; our voices are choked:
Must you still evade us mercilessly?

What will you accept as our libation?
In vain we've offered you, at various stages,
Of Faith and Hope a sweet distillation.
'Labour' too failed to win you as 'wages'.

Ah! You're too precious to be won cheaply!
For you costlier things we need to barter.
We must place, one by one, successively,
The rarest things at your holy alter-
These being Love, Sacrifice, Selflessness,
Compassion, Contentment and Generousness.

Dr. Tulsi Hanumanthu

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/to-peace/