"O, Love! It is you who hold sway over idols and over the fashioners and worshippers of idols; for unless an idol reflects your beauty, no one will ever bow down before it. Whoever prostrates himself before an idol thinks that in so doing he is worshipping divinity. O, God, if I practiced such idolatry, then it was only myself that I was wronging.

Have mercy, and forgive me for this grievous error. You have snatched from me the precious sense of sight, because it was leading me on the path of error: now that you have shaken off the dust of my error, I beg you to return the gift that you took from me. Let my heart be healed of the wounds of regret, and let me gather a tulip in XXX's garden - let me catch a glimpse of XXX."

Identify the work from which the quote comes, and the work's author, and approximate date it was written. If appropriate, identify the speaker or character. Explain the significance of the quote (ie. its message, symbols and/or role in the overall narrative plot) and how it relates to the literary work (or that genre of literary works) as a whole.