 | The Poetical Works of Aubrey De Vere |  |
XXVIII. ANCILLA DOMINI.
The crown of Creatures, first in place,
Was, of all creatures, creature most:
By nature nothing; all by grace;
Redemption's first and loftiest boast.
Was, of all creatures, creature most:
By nature nothing; all by grace;
Redemption's first and loftiest boast.
Handmaid of God in heart and will
Without His life she seemed a death
A void that He alone could fill
A word suspended on His breath.
Without His life she seemed a death
A void that He alone could fill
A word suspended on His breath.
Yet—void and nothing—she in Him
The Creature's sole perfection found;
She was the great Rock's shadow dim;
She was the silence not the sound.
The Creature's sole perfection found;
She was the great Rock's shadow dim;
She was the silence not the sound.
146
On golden airs, by Him upheld,
She knelt, a soft Subjection mute
A hushed Dependance, tranced and spelled,
Still yearning towards the Absolute.
She knelt, a soft Subjection mute
A hushed Dependance, tranced and spelled,
Still yearning towards the Absolute.
She was a sea-shell from the deep
Of God; her function this alone
Of Him to whisper as in sleep,
In everlasting undertone.
Of God; her function this alone
Of Him to whisper as in sleep,
In everlasting undertone.
This hour on Him her eyes are set!
And those who tread the earth she trod
Like her themselves in her forget
And her remember but in God.
And those who tread the earth she trod
Like her themselves in her forget
And her remember but in God.
| The Poetical Works of Aubrey De Vere | |