O do not leave me, mother, till I sleep;
Be near me until I forget; sit there.
And the child having prayed lest she should weep,
Sleeps in the strength of prayer.
O do not leave me, lover, brother, friends,
Till I am dead, and resting in my place.
And the girl, having prayed, in silence bends
Down to the earth's embrace.
Leave me not, God, until—nay, until when?
Not till I have with thee one heart, one mind;
Not till the Life is Light in me, and then
Leaving is left behind.
THE HOLY SNOWDROPS.
Of old, with goodwill from the skies,
The holy angels came;
They walked the earth with human eyes,
And passed away in flame.
But now the angels are withdrawn,
Because the flowers can speak;
With Christ, we see the dayspring dawn
In every snowdrop meek.
God sends them forth; to God they tend;
Not less with love they burn,
That to the earth they lowly bend,
And unto dust return.
No miracle in them hath place,
For this world is their home;
An utterance of essential grace
The angel-snowdrops come.
TO MY SISTER.
O sister, God is very good—
Thou art a woman now:
O sister, be thy womanhood
A baptism on thy brow!