Our very babes drink knowledge as they suck.
Each stripling, as he runs, plucks from each bough
The fruit of knowledge.”
Mary’s reply is of surprising force and beauty:
“Ah, sirs, have a care!
The tree of knowledge was an evil thing,
With root in hell, and fruitage unto death.
But in the self-same garden likewise grew
Another mystery, the tree of life.
This too bore fruit, unseen till after-time: