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 | The Poetical Works of Aubrey De Vere |  |
23
XIX. MATER DEI.
How many a lonely hermit-maid
Hath brightened like a dawn-touched isle
When, on her breast in vision laid,
That Babe hath lit her with His smile!
Hath brightened like a dawn-touched isle
When, on her breast in vision laid,
That Babe hath lit her with His smile!
How many an agèd Saint hath felt,
So graced, a second spring renew
Her wintry breast; with Anna knelt
And trembled like the matin dew!
So graced, a second spring renew
Her wintry breast; with Anna knelt
And trembled like the matin dew!
How oft th' unbending monk, no thrall
In youth of mortal smiles or tears,
Hath felt that Infant's touch through all
The armour of his hundred years!
In youth of mortal smiles or tears,
Hath felt that Infant's touch through all
The armour of his hundred years!
But Mary's was no transient bliss;
Nor hers a vision's phantom gleam:
The hourly need, the voice, the kiss—
That Child was hers! 'twas not a dream!
Nor hers a vision's phantom gleam:
The hourly need, the voice, the kiss—
That Child was hers! 'twas not a dream!
At morning hers, and when the sheen
Of moonrise crept the cliffs along;
In silence hers, and hers between
The pulses of the night-bird's song.
Of moonrise crept the cliffs along;
In silence hers, and hers between
The pulses of the night-bird's song.
And as the Child, the love. Its growth
Was, hour by hour, a growth in grace:
That Child was God; and love for both
Advanced perforce with equal pace.
Was, hour by hour, a growth in grace:
That Child was God; and love for both
Advanced perforce with equal pace.
| The Poetical Works of Aubrey De Vere | |