Had power to breathe your life away,
To so exhale that rose-hued clay,
Magdalena,
That it had faded from my sight,
Like roses in a single night,
Magdalena!
I could have killed you thus, and felt
My will a blessed doom had dealt,
Magdalena!
Ah, would to God! then I had been
Unconscious of your scarlet sin,
Magdalena!
Ah, when I thought your soul as white
As the white rose you wore that night,
Magdalena,
I wondered how your mother came
To give you that sin-sullied name,
Magdalena!
Did some remorseless, vengeful Fate,
In mockery of your lofty state,
Magdalena,
Because you wore the branded name,
Fling over you its scarlet shame,
Magdalena?
There is no peace for you below
That horrid heritage of woe,
Magdalena!
There is no room for you on earth,
Accursed from your very birth,
Magdalena!