 | 'Twixt Kiss and Lip or Under the Sword. By the author of "Women Must Weep," [i.e. F. W. O. Ward] Third edition |  |
GOD'S WOMAN.
Blesséd and blessing, and lighted
Inward with heavenly grace,
Shown in the shades that are blighted,
Showered in pestilent place,
Ev'rywhere finding a space;
Ev'rywhere seeking the slighted,
Lifting the wronged to be righted;
Ev'rywhere leaving its trace,
Priest of a holier pace,
In the lives that were lost and benighted,
Among homes that were ever affrighted,
But for her woman's embrace.
Inward with heavenly grace,
Shown in the shades that are blighted,
Showered in pestilent place,
Ev'rywhere finding a space;
Ev'rywhere seeking the slighted,
Lifting the wronged to be righted;
Ev'rywhere leaving its trace,
Priest of a holier pace,
In the lives that were lost and benighted,
Among homes that were ever affrighted,
But for her woman's embrace.
Hands, that are busy, and flutter
White with the needle and thread,
Working for slaves in the gutter
Bowed by their burdens of lead,
Hardly with courage to tread;
Feet that forsake not the stutter,
Oaths of the outcast, in utter
Shame, that is only her bread—
Shame that envelopes the head
Thrust through the hole in the shutter,
From the haunts where shapes mumble and mutter
Dimly, as ghosts from the dead.
White with the needle and thread,
Working for slaves in the gutter
Bowed by their burdens of lead,
Hardly with courage to tread;
Feet that forsake not the stutter,
Oaths of the outcast, in utter
Shame, that is only her bread—
Shame that envelopes the head
Thrust through the hole in the shutter,
From the haunts where shapes mumble and mutter
Dimly, as ghosts from the dead.
Eyes, that are truthful and tender,
Litten with lustre of skies
Breathing ineffable splendour,
Lovely wherever it lies,
Quick'ning wherever it tries;
Brain, full of thoughts for the spender
Spoiled of inheritance slender,
Cheated by fortune that flies—
Training celestial ties
For the soul, that but dares to surrender
Just itself, and will take as defender
Her, who would help it arise.
Litten with lustre of skies
Breathing ineffable splendour,
Lovely wherever it lies,
340
Brain, full of thoughts for the spender
Spoiled of inheritance slender,
Cheated by fortune that flies—
Training celestial ties
For the soul, that but dares to surrender
Just itself, and will take as defender
Her, who would help it arise.
Heart, like a palace, whose glowing
Welcomes the pilgrims that plod
Darkly, while tempests are blowing,
Yet through the briar and clod,
Poorly and painfully shod;
Life, in magnificence flowing
Fresh, for the empty and owing—
Shoulders scarce lifting the hod,
Backs almost broken with rod—
A new life and new dignity throwing
Upon all, and more beautiful growing;
Woman, the creature of God.
Welcomes the pilgrims that plod
Darkly, while tempests are blowing,
Yet through the briar and clod,
Poorly and painfully shod;
Life, in magnificence flowing
Fresh, for the empty and owing—
Shoulders scarce lifting the hod,
Backs almost broken with rod—
A new life and new dignity throwing
Upon all, and more beautiful growing;
Woman, the creature of God.
| 'Twixt Kiss and Lip or Under the Sword. By the author of "Women Must Weep," [i.e. F. W. O. Ward] Third edition | |