It stirred the shadows with the breath of prayer.
She oped the holy book, and as her lip
Trembled upon the words, they sank within
Her woman’s nature as the snow-flake falls
And melts away into the earth’s warm bosom.
Time, as he wandered by, had sighed the hour
Of “twelve,” and for a moment midnight’s hush
Grew tremulous, and echo as it fell,
Swept o’er the tension of her listening ear
Softly and thrillingly, and like to Love’s