Their Story Runneth Thus Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

Rhyme Scheme: ABCCDEFGHIJKLM NOPNQRSTTFUVDWXYZA2N B2C2D2E2 F2G2H2I2WF J2K2FL2F CJ2M2FN2AFUFO2Z FP2CQ2MR2R2 FS2FFT2U2V2FW2FX2Y2Z 2FFJ2TFJ2AA3B3C3J2F S2D3FJ2D3XFXFE3F3G3F H3D2I3Q2YY J3FK3FFFL3M3F YN3TTN3J2FF J2J2O3S2P3FJ2D3V2FQ3 XR3FS3P2T3U3CJ2X2FY2 FFJ2T3T3T3FT3V3D3FC3 W3T2FQ3ZS3N2FX3A3Y3Z 3FJ2FT2J2FFA4Z3FCV2 J2 B4FT2J2FDMC4S3FD4Y E4L2NFF4G4J2FFDTJ2IJ 2FF FP3D2FH4TN3T3AJ2I4J4 F J4I4K4FIF J4ZFE3FL4M4X2ZZFC J2 E3N4R3J2B4O4P4Q4F3L2 M4XN4R4YFS4B4Z FS3M4J2 FAFAY2J2WFF FZF J2 J2FGH3J2O4J2T4P2 FFU4FV4M4QD2D3 FH3T2Q4D4S3T2S2VNJ2F D4B3YW4C4D4FX4D4J2V2 J2J2J2NYGFF4F FFJ2TY2V4Y4YZ2FFZ4C4 TNE4CFFJ2F FC4W3FFFTAFC4C4P2XFY E3 Z2 J2B3NP2FCFP2DFA3FFNF FZ2Z2FC4 F Q4C4FFFV2Z4F G F FFNU3J2 ZFQ4F3J2Q4J2C4F I FFMFFN3FFFJ2FWQ4FFJ2 FWFFNFJ2FFJ2FL2TJ2Q4 J2DFFFVFFMF FV2Y2FZJ2ZF FZ2WN4YV4FN4FO4GN FF CFYQ4J2FFFL2FNC4J3J2 T E4HFUFE4TE4FF NQ4 YFFCJ3P2FFJ2FZ4FFZ2J 2FFHNNDJ2Y FJ2J2C4C2Z4M4FF Z4J2 FFFFXV4NZ4V4Z4FZ4Z4Z 4Z4Z4L2Z4J2Z4FK4IFFC 4M4Z4NZ4WZ4JJ2FFFNZ4 C4J2FJ2FFJ2Z4FFZ4NL2 FZ4Z4FWNZ4Z4J2FNJ2I2 E3FFZ4NZ4Z4FCQ4J2FJ2 F3Z4CZ4Z4C4CFE4Z4M4Z 4CFZ4J2Z4FZ2J2 J4TZ4Z4Z4NZ4J2E4TC4Z 4NFJ2Z4Z2Z4FJ2Z2Z4Z2 Z4L2FFZ4K4J2Z4K4Z2Z4 NZ4E3FFZ4FZ4Z4FFZ4J2 Z2FFZ4Z4Z4Z4J2FCFFZ2 JZ4Z4FZ2Z4FZ4Z4Z4

Two little children played among the flowers	A
Their mothers were of kin tho' far apart	B
The children's ages were the very same	C
E'en to an hour and Ethel was her name	C
A fair sweet girl with great brown wond'ring eyes	D
That seemed to listen just as if they held	E
The gift of hearing with the power of sight	F
Six summers slept upon her low white brow	G
And dreamed amid the roses of her cheeks	H
Her voice was sweetly low and when she spoke	I
Her words were music and her laughter rang	J
So like an altar bell that had you heard	K
Its silvery sound a ringing you would think	L
Of kneeling down and worshiping the pure	M
	-
They played among the roses it was May	N
And hide and seek and seek and hide all eve	O
They played together till the sun went down	P
Earth held no happier hearts than theirs that day	N
And tired at last she plucked a crimson rose	Q
And gave to him her playmate cousin kin	R
And he went thro' the garden till he found	S
The whitest rose of all the roses there	T
And placed it in her long brown waving hair	T
I give you red and you you give me white	F
What is the meaning said she while a smile	U
As radiant as the light of angels' wings	V
Swept bright across her face the while her eyes	D
Seemed infinite purities half asleep	W
In sweetest pearls and he did make reply	X
Sweet Ethel white dies first you know the snow	Y
And it is not as white as thy pure face	Z
Melts soon away but roses red as mine	A2
Will bloom when all the snow hath passed away	N
	-
She sighed a little sigh then laughed again	B2
And hand in hand they walked the winding ways	C2
Of that fair garden till they reached her home	D2
A good bye and a kiss and he was gone	E2
	-
She leaned her head upon her mother's breast	F2
And ere she fell asleep she sighing called	G2
Does white die first my mother and does red	H2
Live longer And her mother wondered much	I2
At such strange speech She fell asleep	W
With murmurs on her lips of red and white	F
	-
Those children loved as only children can	J2
With nothing in their love save their whole selves	K2
When in their cradles they had been betroth'd	F
They knew it in a manner vague and dim	L2
Unconscious yet of what betrothal meant	F
	-
The boy she called him Merlin a love name	C
And he he called her always Ullainee	J2
No matter why the boy was full of moods	M2
Upon his soul and face the dark and bright	F
Were strangely intermingled Hours would pass	N2
Rippling with his bright prattle and then hours	A
Would come and go and never hear a word	F
Fall from his lips and never see a smile	U
Upon his face He was so like a cloud	F
With ever changeful hues as she was like	O2
A golden sunbeam shining on its face	Z
	-
	-
	-
Ten years passed on They parted and they met	F
Not often in each year yet as they grew	P2
In years a consciousness unto them came	C
Of human love	Q2
But it was sweet and pure	M
There was no passion in it Reverence	R2
Like Guardian Angel watched o'er Innocence	R2
	-
One night in mid of May their faces met	F
As pure as all the stars that gazed on them	S2
They met to part from themselves and the world	F
Their hearts just touched to separate and bleed	F
Their eyes were linked in look while saddest tears	T2
Fell down like rain upon the cheeks of each	U2
They were to meet no more	V2
Their hands were clasped	F
To tear the clasp in twain and all the stars	W2
Looked proudly down on them while shadows knelt	F
Or seemed to kneel around them with the awe	X2
Evoked from any heart by sacrifice	Y2
And in the heart of that last parting hour	Z2
Eternity was beating And he said	F
We part to go to Calvary and to God	F
This is our garden of Gethsemane	J2
And here we bow our heads and breathe His prayer	T
Whose heart was bleeding while the angels heard	F
Not my will Father but Thine own be done	J2
Raptures meet agonies in such heart hours	A
Gladness doth often fling her bright warm arms	A3
Around the cold white neck of grief and thus	B3
The while they parted sorrow swept their hearts	C3
Like a great dark stormy sea but sudden	J2
A joy like sunshine did it come from God	F
	-
Flung over every wave that swept o'er them	S2
A more than golden glory	D3
Merlin said	F
Our loves must soar aloft to spheres divine	J2
The human satisfies nor you nor me	D3
No human love shall ever satisfy	X
Or ever did the hearts that lean on it	F
You sigh for something higher as do I	X
So let our spirits be espoused in God	F
And let our wedlock be as soul to soul	E3
And prayer shall be the golden marriage ring	F3
And God will bless us both	G3
She sweetly said	F
Your words are echoes of my own soul's thoughts	H3
Let God's own heart be our own holy home	D2
And let us live as only angels live	I3
And let us love as our own angels love	Q2
'Tis hard to part but it is better so	Y
God's will is ours and Merlin let us go	Y
	-
And then she sobbed as if her heart would break	J3
Perhaps it did an awful minute passed	F
Long as an age and briefer than a flash	K3
Of lightning in the skies No word was said	F
Only a look which never was forgot	F
Between them fell the shadows of the night	F
Their faces went away into the dark	L3
And never met again and yet their souls	M3
Were twined together in the heart of Christ	F
	-
And Ethel went from earthland long ago	Y
But Merlin stays still hanging on his cross	N3
He would not move a nail that nails him there	T
He would not pluck a thorn that crowns him there	T
He hung himself upon the blessed cross	N3
With Ethel she has gone to wear the crown	J2
That wreathes the brows of virgins who have kept	F
Their bodies with their souls from earthly taint	F
	-
And years and years and weary years passed on	J2
Into the past One Autumn afternoon	J2
When flowers were in their agony of death	O3
And winds sang De Profundis over them	S2
And skies were sad with shadows he did walk	P3
Where in a resting place as calm as sweet	F
The dead were lying down the Autumn sun	J2
Was half way down the west the hour was three	D3
The holiest hour of all the twenty four	V2
For Jesus leaned His head on it and died	F
He walked alone amid the virgin's graves	Q3
Where virgins slept a convent stood near by	X
And from the solitary cells of nuns	R3
Unto the cells of death the way was short	F
Low simple stones and white watched o'er each grave	S3
While in the hollows 'tween them sweet flowers grew	P2
Entwining grave and grave He read the names	T3
Engraven on the stones and Rest in peace	U3
Was written 'neath them all and o'er each name	C
A cross was graven on the lowly stone	J2
He passed each grave with reverential awe	X2
As if he passed an altar where the Host	F
Had left a memory of its sacrifice	Y2
And o'er the buried virgins' virgin dust	F
He walked as prayerfully as tho' he trod	F
The holy floor of fair Loretta's shrine	J2
He passed from grave to grave and read the names	T3
Of those whose own pure lips had changed the names	T3
By which this world had known them into names	T3
Of sacrifice known only to their God	F
Veiling their faces they had veiled their names	T3
The very ones who played with them as girls	V3
Had they passed there would know no more than he	D3
Or any stranger where their playmates slept	F
And then he wondered all about their lives their hearts	C3
Their thoughts their feelings and their dreams	W3
Their joys and sorrows and their smiles and tears	T2
He wondered at the stories that were hid	F
Forever down within those simple graves	Q3
In a lone corner of that resting place	Z
Uprose a low white slab that marked a grave	S3
Apart from all the others long sad grass	N2
Drooped o'er the little mound and mantled it	F
With veil of purest green around the slab	X3
The whitest of white roses 'twined their arms	A3
Roses cold as the snows and pure as songs	Y3
Of angels and the pale leaflets and thorns	Z3
Hid e'en the very name of her who slept	F
Beneath He walked on to the grave but when	J2
He reached its side a spell fell on his heart	F
So suddenly he knew not why and tears	T2
Went up into his eyes and trickled down	J2
Upon the grass he was so strangely moved	F
As if he met a long gone face he loved	F
I believe he prayed He lifted then the leaves	A4
That hid the name but as he did the thorns	Z3
Did pierce his hand and lo amazed he read	F
The very word the very very name	C
He gave the girl in golden days before	V2
	-
ULLAINEE	J2
	-
He sat beside that lonely grave for long	B4
He took its grasses in his trembling hand	F
He toyed with them and wet them with his tears	T2
He read the name again and still again	J2
He thought a thousand thoughts and then he thought	F
It all might be a dream then rubbed his eyes	D
And read the name again to be more sure	M
Then wondered and then wept then asked himself	C4
What means it all Can this be Ethel's grave	S3
I dreamed her soul had fled	F
Was she the white dove that I saw in dream	D4
Fly o'er the sleeping sea so long ago	Y
	-
The convent bell	E4
Rang sweet upon the breeze and answered him	L2
His question And he rose and went his way	N
Unto the convent gate long shadows marked	F
One hour before the sunset and the birds	F4
Were singing Vespers in the convent trees	G4
As silent as a star gleam came a nun	J2
In answer to his summons at the gate	F
Her face was like the picture of a saint	F
Or like an angel's smile her downcast eyes	D
Were like a half closed tabernacle where	T
God's presence glowed her lips were pale and worn	J2
By ceaseless prayer and when she sweetly spoke	I
And bade him enter 'twas in such a tone	J2
As only voices own which day and night	F
Sing hymns to God	F
	-
She locked the massive gate	F
He followed her along a flower fringed walk	P3
That gently rising led up to the home	D2
Of virgin hearts The very flowers that bloomed	F
Within the place in beds of sacred shapes	H4
For they had fashioned them with holy care	T
Into all holy forms a chalice a cross	N3
And sacred hearts and many saintly names	T3
That when their eyes would fall upon the flowers	A
Their souls might feast upon some mystic sign	J2
Were fairer far within the convent walls	I4
And purer in their fragrance and their bloom	J4
Than all their sisters in the outer world	F
	-
He went into a wide and humble room	J4
The floor was painted and upon the walls	I4
In humble frames most holy paintings hung	K4
Jesus and Mary and many an olden saint	F
Were there And she the veil clad Sister spoke	I
I'll call the mother and she bowed and went	F
	-
He waited in the wide and humble room	J4
The only room in that unworldly place	Z
This world could enter and the pictures looked	F
Upon his face and down into his soul	E3
And strangely stirred him On the mantle stood	F
A crucifix the figured Christ of which	L4
Did seem to suffer and he rose to look	M4
More nearly on to it but he shrank in awe	X2
When he beheld a something in its face	Z
Like his own face	Z
But more amazed he grew when at the foot	F
Of that strange crucifix he read the name	C
	-
ULLAINEE	J2
	-
A whirl of thought swept o'er his startled soul	E3
When to the door he heard a footstep come	N4
And then a voice the Mother of the nuns	R3
Had entered and in calmest tone began	J2
Forgive kind sir my stay our Matin song	B4
Had not yet ended when you came our rule	O4
Forbids our leaving choir this my excuse	P4
She bent her head the rustle of her veil	Q4
Was like the trembling of an angel's wing	F3
Her voice's tone as sweet She turned to him	L2
And seemed to ask him with her still calm look	M4
What brought him there and waited his reply	X
I am a stranger Sister hither come	N4
He said upon an errand still more strange	R4
But thou wilt pardon me and bid me go	Y
If what I crave you cannot rightly grant	F
I would not dare intrude nor claim your time	S4
Save that a friendship deep as death and strong	B4
As life has brought me to this holy place	Z
	-
He paused She looked at him an instant bent	F
Her lustrous eyes upon the floor but gave	S3
Him no reply save that her very look	M4
Encouraged him to speak and he went on	J2
	-
He told her Ethel's story from the first	F
He told her of the day amid the flowers	A
When they were only six sweet summers old	F
He told her of the night when all the flowers	A
A list'ning heard the words of sacrifice	Y2
He told her all then said I saw a stone	J2
In yonder graveyard where your Sisters sleep	W
And writ on it all hid by roses white	F
I saw a name I never ought forget	F
	-
She wore a startled look but soon repressed	F
The wonder that had come into her face	Z
Whose name she calmly spoke But when he said	F
	-
ULLAINEE	J2
	-
She forward bent her face and pierced his own	J2
With look intensest and he thought he heard	F
The trembling of her veil as if the brow	G
It mantled throbbed with many thrilling thoughts	H3
But quickly rose she and in hurried tone	J2
Spoke thus 'Tis hour of sunset 'tis our rule	O4
To close the gates to all till to morrow's morn	J2
Return to morrow then if so God wills	T4
I'll see you	P2
	-
He gave many thanks passed out	F
From that unworldly place into the world	F
Straight to the lonely graveyard went his steps	U4
Swift to the White Rose Grave his heart he knelt	F
Upon its grass and prayed that God might will	V4
The mystery's solution then he took	M4
Where it was drooping on the slab a rose	Q
The whiteness of whose leaves was like the foam	D2
Of summer waves upon a summer sea	D3
	-
Then thro' the night he went	F
And reached his room where weary of his thoughts	H3
Sleep came and coming found the dew of tears	T2
Undried within his eyes and flung her veil	Q4
Around him Then he dreamt a strange weird dream	D4
A rock dark waves white roses and a grave	S3
And cloistered flowers and cloistered nuns and tears	T2
That shone like jewels on a diadem	S2
And two great angels with such shining wings	V
All these and more were in most curious way	N
Blended in one dream or many dreams Then	J2
He woke wearier in his mind Then slept	F
Again and had another dream	D4
His dream ran thus	B3
He told me all of it many years ago	Y
But I forgot the most I remember this	W4
A dove whiter than whiteness' very self	C4
Fluttered thro' his sleep in vision or dream	D4
Bearing in its flight a spotless rose It	F
Flew away across great long distances	X4
Thro' forests where the trees were all in dream	D4
And over wastes where silences held reign	J2
And down pure valleys till it reached a shore	V2
By which blushed a sea in the ev'ning sun	J2
The dove rested there awhile rose again	J2
And flew across the sea into the sun	J2
And then from near or far he could not say	N
Came sound as faint as echo's own echo	Y
A low sweet hymn it seemed and now	G
And then he heard or else he thought he heard	F
As if it were the hymn's refrain the words	F4
White dies first White dies first	F
	-
The sun had passed his noon and westward sloped	F
He hurried to the cloister and was told	F
The Mother waited him He entered in	J2
Into the wide and pictured room and there	T
The Mother sat and gave him welcome twice	Y2
I prayed last night she spoke to know God's will	V4
I prayed to Holy Mary and the saints	Y4
That they might pray for me and I might know	Y
My conduct in the matter Now kind sir	Z2
What wouldst thou Tell thy errand He replied	F
It was not idle curiosity	F
That brought me hither or that prompts my lips	Z4
To ask the story of the White Rose Grave'	C4
To seek the story of the sleeper there	T
Whose name I knew so long and far away	N
Who was she pray Dost deem it right to tell	E4
There was a pause before the answer came	C
As if there was a comfort in her heart	F
There was a tremor in her voice when she	F
Unclosed two palest lips and spoke in tone	J2
Of whisper more than word	F
	-
She was a child	F
Of lofty gift and grace who fills that grave	C4
And who has filled it long and yet it seems	W3
To me but one short hour ago we laid	F
Her body there Her mem'ry clings around	F
Our hearts our cloisters fresh and fair and sweet	F
We often look for her in places where	T
Her face was wont to be among the flowers	A
In chapel underneath those trees Long years
Have passed and mouldered her pure face and yet	F
It seems to hover here and haunt us all
I cannot tell you all It is enough	C4
To see one ray of light for us to judge
The glory of the sun it is enough	C4
To catch one glimpse of heaven's blue	P2
For us to know the beauty of the sky	X
It is enough to tell a little part	F
Of her most holy life that you may know	Y
The hidden grace and splendor of the whole	E3
	-
Nay nay he interrupted her all all
Thou'lt tell me all kind Mother	Z2
	-
She went on	J2
Unheeding his abruptness	B3
One sweet day	N
A feast of Holy Virgin in the month
Of May at early morn ere yet the dew	P2
Had passed from off the flowers and grass ere yet	F
Our nuns had come from holy Mass there came	C
With summons quick unto our convent gate	F
A fair young girl Her feet were wet with dew	P2
Another dew was moist within her eyes	D
Her large brown wond'ring eyes She asked for me	F
And as I went she rushed into my arms	A3
Like weary bird into the leaf roofed branch
That sheltered it from storm She sobbed and sobbed	F
Until I thought her very soul would rush
From her frail body in a sob to God	F
I let her sob her sorrow all away	N
My words were waiting for a calm Her sobs
Sank into sighs and they too sank and died	F
In faintest breath I bore her to a seat	F
In this same room and gently spoke to her	Z2
And held her hand in mine and soothed her	Z2
With words of sympathy until she seemed	F
As tranquil as myself	C4
	-
And then I asked	F
What brought thee hither child and what wilt thou '	-
Mother ' she said wilt let me wear the veil	Q4
Wilt let me serve my God as e'en you serve	C4
Him in this cloistered place I pray to be	F
Unworthy tho' I be to be His spouse
Nay Mother say not nay 'twill break a heart	F
Already broken ' and she looked on me	F
With those brown wond'ring eyes which pleaded more	V2
More strongly and more sadly than her lips	Z4
That I might grant her sudden strange request	F
Hast thou a mother ' questioned I I had '	-
She said but heaven has her now and thou	G
Wilt be my mother and the orphan girl
Will make her life her thanks '	-
Thy father child '	-
Ere I was cradled he was in his grave '	-
And hast nor sister nor brother ' No ' she said	F
God gave my mother only me one year
This very day He parted us ' Poor child '	-
I murmured Nay kind Sister ' she replied	F
I have much wealth they left me ample means
I have true friends who love me and protect	F
I was a minor until yesterday	N
But yesterday all guardianship did cease	U3
And I am mistress of myself and all
My worldly means and Sister they are thine	J2
If thou but take myself nay don't refuse '	-
Nay nay my child ' I said the only wealth
We wish for is the wealth of soul of grace	Z
Not all your gold could unlock yonder gate	F
Or buy a single thread of Virgin's veil	Q4
Not all the coins in coffers of a king	F3
Could bribe an entrance here for any one	J2
God's voice alone can claim a cell a veil	Q4
For any one He sends
Who sent you here
My child Thyself Or did some holy one	J2
Direct thy steps Or else some sudden grief	C4
Or mayhap disappointment Or perhaps
A sickly weariness of that bright world	F
Hath cloyed thy spirit Tell me which is it '	-
Neither ' she quickly almost proudly spoke	I
Who sent you then '	-
A youthful Christ ' she said	F
Who had he lived in those far days of Christ	F
Would have been His belov'd Disciple sure	M
Would have been His own gentle John and would	F
Have leaned on Thursday night upon His breast	F
And stood on Friday eve beneath His cross	N3
To take His Mother from Him when He died	F
He sent me here he said the word last night	F
In my own garden this the word he said	F
Oh had you heard him whisper Ethel dear
Your heart was born with veil of virgin on	J2
I hear it rustle every time we meet	F
In all your words and smiles and when you weep	W
I hear it rustle more Go wear your veil	Q4
And outward be what inwardly thou art	F
And hast been from the first And Ethel list	F
My heart was born with priestly vestments on	J2
And at Dream Altars I have ofttimes stood	F
And said such sweet Dream Masses in my sleep	W
And when I lifted up a white Dream Host	F
A silver Dream Bell rang and angels knelt	F
Or seemed to kneel in worship Ethel say	N
Thou wouldst not take the vestments from my heart	F
Nor more than I would tear the veil from thine	J2
My vested and thy veiled heart part to night	F
To climb our Calvary and to meet in God	F
And this fair Ethel is Gethsemane	J2
And He is here who in that other bled	F
And they are here who came to comfort Him	L2
His angels and our own and His great prayer	T
Ethel is ours to night let's say it then	J2
Father Thy will be done Go find your veil	Q4
And I my vestments He did send me here '	-
	-
She paused a few stray tears had dropped upon	J2
Her closing words and softened them to sighs	D
I listened inward moved but outward calm and cold	F
To the girl's strange story Then smiling said	F
I see it is a love tale after all
With much of folly and some of fact in it	F
It is a heart affair and in such things	V
There's little logic and there's less of sense
You brought your heart dear child but left your head	F
Outside the gates nay go and find the head	F
You lost last night and then I am quite sure	M
You'll not be anxious to confine your heart	F
Within this cloistered place '	-
She seemed to wince
Beneath my words one moment then replied	F
If e'en a wounded heart did bring me here
Dost thou do well Sister to wound it more	V2
If merely warmth of feelings urged me here
Dost thou do well to chill them into ice	Y2
And were I disappointed in yon world	F
Should that debar me from a purer place	Z
You say it is a love tale so it is
The vase was human but the flower divine	J2
And if I break the vase with my own hands
Will you forbid that I should humbly ask
The heart of God to be my lily's vase	Z
I'd trust my lily to no heart on earth
Save his who yesternight did send me here
To dip it in the very blood of Christ	F
And plant it here '	-
And then she sobbed outright	F
A long deep sob
I gently said to her	Z2
Nay child I spoke to test thee do not weep	W
If thou art called of God thou yet shalt come	N4
And find e'en here a home But God is slow	Y
In all His works and ways and slower still	V4
When He would deck a bride to grace His court	F
Go now and in one year if thou dost come	N4
Thy veil and cell shall be prepared for thee	F
Nay urge me not it is our holy rule	O4
A year of trial I must to choir and thou	G
Into the world to watch and wait and pray	N
Until the Bridegroom comes '	-
She rose and went	F
Without a word	F
	-
And twelvemonth after came	C
True to the very day and hour and said	F
Wilt keep thy promise made one year ago	Y
Where is my cell and where my virgin's veil	Q4
Wilt try me more Wilt send me back again	J2
I came once with my wealth and was refused	F
And now I come as poor as Holy Christ	F
Who had no place to rest His weary head	F
My wealth is gone I offered it to him	L2
Who sent me here he sent me speedy word	F
Give all unto the poor in quiet way	N
And hide the giving ere you give yourself	C4
To God Wilt take me now for my own sake	J3
I bring my soul 'tis little worth I ween	J2
And yet it cost sweet Christ a priceless price '	-
	-
My child ' I said thrice welcome enter here
A few short days of silence and of prayer	T
And thou shalt be the Holy Bridegroom's bride '	-
	-
Her novice days went on much sickness fell	E4
Upon her Oft she lay for weary weeks	H
In awful agonies and no one heard	F
A murmur from her lips She oft would smile	U
A sunny playful smile that she might hide	F
Her sufferings from us all When she was well	E4
She was the first to meet the hour of prayer	T
The last to leave it and they named her well	E4
The Angel of the Cloister' Once I heard	F
The Father of our souls say when she passed	F
Beneath that veil of sacrificial black
She wears the white robe of her innocence '	-
And we we believed it There are sisters here
Of three score years of service who would say	N
Within our memory never moved a veil	Q4
That hid so saintly and so pure a heart '	-
And we we felt it and we loved her so	Y
We treated her as angel and as child	F
I never heard her speak about the past	F
I never heard her mention e'en a name	C
Of any in the world She little spake	J3
She seemed to have rapt moments then she grew	P2
Absent minded and would come and ask me	F
To walk alone and say her Rosary	F
Beneath the trees She had a voice divine	J2
And when she sang for us in truth it seemed	F
The very heart of song was breaking on her lips	Z4
The dower of her mind as of her heart	F
Was of the richest and she mastered art	F
By instinct more than study Her weak hands
Moved ceaselessly amid the beautiful
There is a picture hanging in our choir	Z2
She painted I remember well the morn	J2
She came to me and told me she had dreamt	F
A dream then asked me would I let her paint	F
Her dream I gave permission Weeks and weeks	H
Went by and ev'ry spare hour of the day	N
She kept her cell all busy with her work
At last 'twas finished and she brought it forth
A picture my poor words may not portray	N
But you must gaze on it with your own eyes	D
And drink its magic and its meanings in	J2
I'll show it thee kind sir before you go	Y
	-
In every May for two whole days she kept	F
Her cell We humored her in that but when	J2
The days had passed and she came forth again	J2
Her face was tender as a lily's leaf	C4
With God's smile on it and for days and days	C2
Thereafter she would scarcely ope her lips	Z4
Save when in prayer and then her every look	M4
Was rapt as if her soul did hold with God	F
Strange converse And who knows mayhap she did	F
	-
I half forgot on yonder mantlepiece	Z4
You see that wondrous crucifix one year
She spent on it and begged to put beneath
That most mysterious word Ullainee'	J2
	-
At last the cloister's angel disappeared	F
Her face was missed at choir her voice was missed	F
Her words were missed where every day we met	F
In recreation's hour And those who passed	F
The angel's cell would lightly tread and breathe
A prayer that death might pass the angel by	X
And let her longer stay for she lay ill	V4
Her frail pure life was ebbing fast away	N
Ah many were the orisons that rose	Z4
From all our hearts that God might spare her still	V4
At Benediction and at holy Mass	Z4
Our hands were lifted and strong pleadings went	F
To heaven for her we did love her so	Z4
Perhaps too much we loved her and perhaps	Z4
Our love was far too human Slow and slow	Z4
She faded like a flower And slow and slow	Z4
Her pale cheeks whitened more And slow and slow	Z4
Her large brown wondering eyes sank deep and dim	L2
Hope died on all our faces but on her's	Z4
Another and a different hope did shine	J2
And from her wasted lips sweet prayers arose	Z4
That made her watchers weep Fast came the end	F
Never such silence o'er the cloister hung	K4
We walked more softly and whene'er we spoke	I
Our voices fell to whispers lest a sound	F
Might jar upon her ear The sisters watched	F
In turns beside her couch to each she gave	C4
A gentle word a smile a thankful look	M4
At times her mind did wander no wild words	Z4
Escaped her lips she seemed to float away	N
To far gone days and live again in scenes	Z4
Whose hours were bright and happy In her sleep	W
She ofttimes spoke low gentle holy words	Z4
About her mother and sometimes she sang	J
The fragments of sweet olden songs and when	J2
She woke again she timidly would ask
If she had spoken in her sleep and what	F
She said as if indeed her heart did fear
That sleep might open there some long closed gate	F
She would keep locked And softly as a cloud	F
A golden cloud upon a summer's day	N
Floats from the heart of land out o'er the sea	Z4
So her sweet life was passing One bright eve	C4
The fourteenth day of August when the sun	J2
Was wrapping like a king a purple cloud	F
Around him on descending day's bright throne	J2
She sent for me and bade me come in haste	F
I went into her cell There was a light	F
Upon her face unearthly and it shone	J2
Like gleam of star upon a dying rose	Z4
I sat beside her couch and took her hand	F
In mine a fair frail hand that scarcely seem'd	F
Of flesh so wasted white and wan it was	Z4
Her great brown wond'ring eyes had sunk away	N
Deep in their sockets and their light shone dim	L2
As tapers dying on an altar Soft	F
As a dream of beauty on me fell low	Z4
Last words	Z4
Mother the tide is ebbing fast	F
But ere it leaves this shore to cross the deep	W
And seek another calmer I would say	N
A few last words and Mother I would ask
One favor more which thou wilt not refuse	Z4
Thou wert a mother to the orphan girl
Thou gav'st her heart a home her love a vase	Z4
Her weariness a rest her sacrifice a shrine	J2
And thou didst love me Mother as she loved	F
Whom I shall meet to morrow far away	N
But no it is not far that other heaven	J2
Touches this Mother I have felt its touch	I2
And now I feel its clasp upon my soul	E3
I'm going from this heaven into that	F
To morrow Mother Yes I dreamt it all
It was the sunset of Our Lady's feast	F
My soul passed upwards thro' the golden clouds	Z4
To sing the second Vespers of the day	N
With all the angels Mother ere I go	Z4
Thou'lt listen Mother sweet to my last words	Z4
Which like all last words tell whate'er was first	F
In life or tenderest in heart I came	C
Unto my convent cell and virgin veil	Q4
Sent by a spirit that had touched my own	J2
As wings of angels touch to fly apart	F
Upon their missions till they meet again	J2
In heaven heart to heart wing to wing	F3
The Angel of the Cloister you called me	Z4
Unworthy sure of such a beauteous name	C
My mission's over and your angel goes	Z4
To morrow home This earthly part which stays	Z4
You'll lay away within a simple grave	C4
But Mother on its slab thou'lt grave this name	C
Ullainee she spelt the letters out	F
Nor ask me why tho' if thou wilt I'll tell	E4
It is my soul name given long ago	Z4
By one who found it in some Eastern book	M4
Or dreamt it in a dream and gave it me	Z4
Nor ever told the meaning of the name	C
And Mother should he ever come and read	F
That name upon my grave and come to thee	Z4
And ask the tidings of Ullainee	J2
Thou'lt tell him all and watch him if he weeps	Z4
Show him the crucifix my poor hands carved	F
Show him the picture in the chapel choir	Z2
And watch him if he weeps and then	J2
There are three humble scrolls in yonder drawer '	-
She pointed to the table in her room	J4
Some words of mine and words of his are there	T
And keep these simple scrolls until he comes	Z4
And put them in his hands and Mother watch
Watch him if he weeps and tell him this	Z4
I tasted all the sweets of sacrifice	Z4
I kissed my cross a thousand times a day	N
I hung and bled upon it in my dreams	Z4
I lived on it I loved it to the last ' And then	J2
A low soft sigh crept thro' the virgin's cell	E4
I looked upon her face and death was there	T
There was a pause and in the pause one wave	C4
Of shining tears swept thro' the Mother's eyes	Z4
And thus she said our angel passed away	N
We buried her and at her last request	F
We wrote upon the slab Ullainee'	J2
And I for she asked me one day thus	Z4
The day she hung her picture in the choir	Z2
I planted o'er her grave a white rose tree	Z4
The roses crept around the slab and hid	F
The graven name and still we sometimes cull
Her sweet white roses and we place them on	J2
Our Chapel Altar	Z2
Then the Mother rose	Z4
Without another word and led him thro'	Z2
A long vast hall then up a flight of stairs	Z4
Unto an oaken door which turned upon its hinge
Noiselessly then into a Chapel dim	L2
On gospel side of which there was a gate	F
From ceiling down to floor and back of that	F
A long and narrow choir with many stalls	Z4
Brown oaken all along the walls were hung	K4
Saint pictures whose sweet faces looked upon	J2
The faces of the Sisters in their prayers	Z4
Beside a Mater Dolorosa hung	K4
The picture of the Angel of the Choir	Z2
He sees it now thro' vista of the years	Z4
Which stretch between him and that long gone day	N
It hangs within his memory as fresh
In tint and touch and look as long ago	Z4
There was a power in it as if the soul	E3
Of her who painted it had shrined in it	F
Its very self there was a spell in it	F
That fell upon his spirit thro' his eyes	Z4
And made him dream of God's own holy heart	F
The shadow of the picture in weak words	Z4
Was this or something very like to this	Z4
A wild weird wold	F
Just like the desolation of a heart	F
Stretched far away into infinity	Z4
Above it low gray skies drooped sadly down	J2
As if they fain would weep and all was bare	Z2
As bleakness' own bleak self a mountain stood	F
All mantled with the glory of a light	F
That flashed from out the heavens and a cross	Z4
With such a pale Christ hanging in its arms	Z4
Did crown the mount and either side the cross	Z4
There were two crosses lying on the rocks	Z4
One of the whitest roses ULLAINEE	J2
Was woven into it with buds of Red	F
And one of reddest roses Merlin's name	C
Was woven into it with buds of white	F
Below the cross and crosses and the mount	F
The earth place lay so dark and bleak and drear	Z2
Above a golden glory seemed to hang	J
Like God's own benediction o'er the names	Z4
I saw the picture once it moved me so	Z4
I ne'er forgot its beauty or its truth
But words as weak as mine can never paint	F
That Crucifixion's picture	Z2
Merlin said to me	Z4
Some day some far off day when I am dead	F
You have the simple rhymings of two hearts	Z4
And if you think it best the world may know	Z4
A love tale crowned by purest SACRIFICE	Z4

Abram Joseph Ryan

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