 | 'Twixt Kiss and Lip or Under the Sword. By the author of "Women Must Weep," [i.e. F. W. O. Ward] Third edition |  |
THE ANGEL AND THE CROSS.
I had a cross to carry up the steep
That winds through wastes of shadow, to the Light
Which is the Face of God serene and bright,
Beyond the bitter rocks where mourners weep;
That winds through wastes of shadow, to the Light
Which is the Face of God serene and bright,
Beyond the bitter rocks where mourners weep;
And faith had ever vigil sad to keep,
Against the music of temptation's might,
Pursuing me with delicate delight,
That well might lull the surest watch to sleep.
Against the music of temptation's might,
Pursuing me with delicate delight,
That well might lull the surest watch to sleep.
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But as with patient prayer I bore it on,
By paths that martyrs' feet before had gone,
Through penitential purging lone and keen;
By paths that martyrs' feet before had gone,
Through penitential purging lone and keen;
Lo, a fair angel where the Cross had been,
And light, that never yet round reveller shone,
Turned the dark desert to an Eden green.
And light, that never yet round reveller shone,
Turned the dark desert to an Eden green.
| 'Twixt Kiss and Lip or Under the Sword. By the author of "Women Must Weep," [i.e. F. W. O. Ward] Third edition | |