Page:Poems Craik.djvu/175

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BENEDETTA MINELLI.
157
Live, keeping aye thy spirit undefiled,
That, when we stand before our Master's feet,
I with an angel's love may crown complete
The woman's faith, the worship of the child.

Dawn, solemn bridal morn; ope, bridal door;
I enter. My vowed soul may Heaven now take;
My heart its virgin spousal for thy sake;
O love, keeps sacred thus forevermore.


II.
THE SISTER OF MERCY.

IS it then so?—Good friends, who sit and sigh
While I lie smiling, are my life's sands run?
Will my next matins, hymned beyond the sun,
Mingle with those of saints and martyrs high?

Shall I with these my gray hairs turned to gold,
My aged limbs new clad in garments white,
Stand all transfigured in the angels' sight,
Singing triumphantly that moan of old,—