 | Three Hundred Sonnets |  |
161
FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE.
If ever saint obey'd the great command,Leave all and follow Me; if ever heart
Acted in love the high and holy part
Of good Samaritan from land to land,—
That praise is thine, O Lady! and thou art
Truly the crown of Christian womanhood,
With tender eye and ministering hand
Going about like Jesus doing good
Among the sick and dying: what a scene
Of wounds and writhing pain and hideous throes
For thee to dwell in,—O thou martyr-Queen,
Calm dove of peace amid war's vulture woes,
Soothing their fury by thy looks serene,
And lulling agony to deep repose!
| Three Hundred Sonnets | |