 | Poems and Romances |  |
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THE CUMÆAN SIBYL.
Fearing the end of all her prophecies,The Virgin Witch of Cumæ from her place
Arose, with ruddy and unwrinkled face,
And hungry, hollow, cavernous blue eyes,
Because at Bethlehem she heard cradle cries,
To ask oblivious drugs which might efface
Christ's image, since she did not hope His grace.
But Circe answering, “Thou must still be wise;
Thy maiden flesh is not as other clay,”
She measured back the rosy dimpled seas,
Nor bowed beneath her burden of despair,
But trod with steady feet a sunless way
To those just ghosts, who almost dwell at ease,
With purple fillets in her snowy hair.
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