I have desired, and I have been desired;
But now the days are over of desire,
Now dust and dying embers mock my fire;
Where is the hire for which my life was hired?
The first person voice is that of the narrator, Louise de Villiere, and she begins in emphatic mood. The abrupt statement makes clear the subject. 
 The reader may sense a note of pride, that though this is in the past tense, she is proud and glad of her experiences of ‘desire’.
Soeur Louise De La Misericorde