University of Virginia Library


84

“A ROSE OF GOD”

SONNET

As life's wild battle wavers, as we wait
Till over hill and valley falls the gleam
Of angel armour flashing through a dream,
And angel hosts through morning's golden gate
Pour forth, more masterful than death or fate,
Or fools found godlike in their own esteem,
Or tongues with Self for their eternal theme,
We cry: “Will Love's heart triumph over hate?”
Yet, though tracked hard by shadows born of hell,
Woman's divineness deepens. She shall be
Fairer than word of living man may tell.
Bright shall be fields and air, serene the sea,
When forth she stands at last, grief's dim paths trod,
Man's rose on earth, in heaven a rose of God.
October 19, 1906.