This woman’s soul

Is white with purity; the snowy bloom

Of a camelia, that feels no disdain

In drawing from this common earth of ours

The sources of its beauty and its life;

Yet with a wise and lofty self-control,

Refuses long to blossom to the sun;

Spreading its glossy leaves to light and air;

Winning a deep, sure knowledge of the world;

Rising with quiet dignity and grace